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Graph of log 2 x as a function of a positive real number x. In mathematics, the binary logarithm (log 2 n) is the power to which the number 2 must be raised to obtain the value n. That is, for any real number x, = =.
Because log(x) is the sum of the terms of the form log(1 + 2 −k) corresponding to those k for which the factor 1 + 2 −k was included in the product P, log(x) may be computed by simple addition, using a table of log(1 + 2 −k) for all k. Any base may be used for the logarithm table. [53]
For example, two numbers can be multiplied just by using a logarithm table and adding. These are often known as logarithmic properties, which are documented in the table below. [2] The first three operations below assume that x = b c and/or y = b d, so that log b (x) = c and log b (y) = d. Derivations also use the log definitions x = b log b (x ...
In a third layer, the logarithms of rational numbers r = a / b are computed with ln(r) = ln(a) − ln(b), and logarithms of roots via ln n √ c = 1 / n ln(c).. The logarithm of 2 is useful in the sense that the powers of 2 are rather densely distributed; finding powers 2 i close to powers b j of other numbers b is comparatively easy, and series representations of ln(b) are ...
[2] A similar LNS named "signed logarithmic number system" (SLNS) was described in 1975 by Earl Swartzlander and Aristides Alexopoulos ; rather than use two's complement notation for the logarithms, they offset them (scale the numbers being represented) to avoid negative logs.
The natural logarithm of x is generally written as ln x, log e x, or sometimes, if the base e is implicit, simply log x. [2] [3] Parentheses are sometimes added for clarity, giving ln(x), log e (x), or log(x). This is done particularly when the argument to the logarithm is not a single symbol, so as to prevent ambiguity.
If p is a probability, then p/(1 − p) is the corresponding odds; the logit of the probability is the logarithm of the odds, i.e.: = = = = (). The base of the logarithm function used is of little importance in the present article, as long as it is greater than 1, but the natural logarithm with base e is the one most often used.
For example, log 10 10000 = 4, and log 10 0.001 = −3. These are instances of the discrete logarithm problem. Other base-10 logarithms in the real numbers are not instances of the discrete logarithm problem, because they involve non-integer exponents. For example, the equation log 10 53 = 1.724276… means that 10 1.724276… = 53.