EXPONENTIALS

FUNCTIONS AND
LOGARITHMS
Logarithms are auxiliary numbers which are exponents, and permits us
to simplify the operations of multiplication, division, raising to powers,
and extraction of roots, with explicit numbers.

The logarithm of a number N to the base a is the exponent of the power

to which the base a must be raised to obtain N.
Exponential and Logarithmic Form
4! = 64
It is called the exponential form. The exponent 3 is called the logarithm
of 64, if the base is 4.
𝑙𝑜𝑔" 64 = 3
This is the logarithmic form.

The log of the number N to the base b is the exponent x of the power to
which the base must be raised to equal the number.
𝑙𝑜𝑔# 𝑁 = 𝑥 𝑜𝑟 𝑏 $ = 𝑁

*The base must be positive and not equal to 1

Exercises:

1. 9%/' = 3
2. 9(!/' = 1/27
3. 𝑥) = 𝑦
4. 𝑙𝑜𝑔) 125 = 3
5. 𝑙𝑜𝑔) 125 = 3
6. 𝑙𝑜𝑔" 256 = 4
Exercises: Write the value of the following

1. 𝑙𝑜𝑔! 27
2. 𝑙𝑜𝑔* 512
3. 𝑙𝑜𝑔*% 3

Solve for x
1. 𝑙𝑜𝑔$ 32 = 5
%
2. 𝑙𝑜𝑔') )
=𝑥
3. 𝑙𝑜𝑔%+ 𝑥 = 1/2
Exercises: Find the number whose logarithms is given

1. 𝑙𝑜𝑔+ 𝑁 = 2
2. 𝑙𝑜𝑔%, 𝑁 = 1
3. 𝑙𝑜𝑔) 𝑁 = −1

Solve for x
1. 𝑙𝑜𝑔$ 8 = 2
2. 𝑙𝑜𝑔')+ 16 = 𝑥
3. 𝑙𝑜𝑔%+ 𝑥 = −5/2
Common Logarithm: Napierian or Natural Logarithms

The base 10 raised to any power that is a whole number is easily

computed.
10' = 100
10 is the most commonly used base for practical calculations.

Napier however developed his logarithms along altogether different

lines. His base is irrational number denoted by e.
𝑙𝑜𝑔- = 𝑙𝑛
Exercises

1. Find the number y such that 𝑙𝑛𝑦 = 4

2. Find the number t such that ln 2𝑡 + 1 = −4
3. Find the number x such that 𝑒 !$(% = 2
4. ln 𝑥 + 5 + ln 𝑥 − 1 = 2
5. 𝑒 '$ + 𝑒 $ = 6
6. ln ln 𝑥 = 4
%./0 1
7. './0 1
= 0.9
Laws of Logarithms
1. The logarithm of a product is equal to the sum of the logarithms of
its factors
log 𝑀𝑁 = 𝑙𝑜𝑔𝑀 + 𝑙𝑜𝑔𝑁
2. The logarithm of a quotient is equal to the difference of the
logarithms of the dividend and the divisor
𝑀
log = 𝑙𝑜𝑔𝑀 − 𝑙𝑜𝑔𝑁
𝑁
3. The logarithm of the power of a number is equal to the logarithm of
the number times the exponent of the power
𝑙𝑜𝑔𝑀! = 𝑙𝑜𝑔𝑀 𝑛 = 𝑛×𝑙𝑜𝑔𝑀
4. The logarithm of the root of a number is equal to the logarithm of
the number dividend by the index of the root
! 𝑙𝑜𝑔𝑀
𝑙𝑜𝑔 𝑀 =
𝑛
Antilogarithms
𝑙𝑜𝑔𝑁 = 𝑥
𝑁 = 𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑙𝑜𝑔 𝑥
𝑁 = 10$

𝑙𝑛𝑁 = 𝑥
𝑁 = 𝑒$
Multiplication and Division by Logarithms
𝑀𝑁 = 𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑙𝑜𝑔 𝑙𝑜𝑔𝑀 + 𝑙𝑜𝑔𝑁
𝑀
= 𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑙𝑜𝑔(𝑙𝑜𝑔𝑀 − 𝑙𝑜𝑔𝑁)
𝑁
Change of Base of Logarithms

𝑙𝑜𝑔2 𝑦
𝑙𝑜𝑔# 𝑦 =
𝑙𝑜𝑔2 𝑏

𝑙𝑜𝑔73.9
𝑙𝑜𝑔' 73.9 = ≈ 6.2075
𝑙𝑜𝑔2
Execises
1. log 𝑥 = 2 − log 𝑥 − 21
2. ln 𝑥 − 1 = 1 + ln 3𝑥 + 2
3. 2 log 𝑥 − log 7𝑥 − 1 = 0