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Course: Algebra 2 > Unit 8

Lesson 5: Solving exponential models

Logarithms: FAQ

Frequently asked questions about logarithms

What are logarithms?

Logarithms are the inverse operation of exponentiation. We can use logarithms to find the exponent to which a given base must be raised in order to produce a particular result. For example,

\log_{2} 8 = 3

, because

2^{3} = 8

What is the constant $e$ ‍?

The constant

e

is a very important number in mathematics. It is an irrational number, which means it cannot be written exactly as a fraction or a decimal, but we often approximate it as

e \approx 2.71828

. It is the base of the natural logarithm,

\ln

n

gets larger and larger, the sequence

{(1 + \frac{1}{n})}^{n}

gets closer and closer to

e

The constant

e

appears in various other contexts in mathematics and science, such as in statistics and in the study of exponential growth and decay.

What are some properties of logarithms?

There are a few key properties of logarithms that we use frequently:

$\log_{b} 1 = 0$ ‍ for any base $b$ ‍
$\log_{b} b = 1$ ‍ for any base $b$ ‍
$\log_{b} x y = \log_{b} x + \log_{b} y$ ‍
$\log_{b} \frac{x}{y} = \log_{b} x - \log_{b} y$ ‍
$\log_{b} x^{n} = n \log_{b} x$ ‍

What is the change of base formula for logarithms?

The change of base formula allows us to convert a logarithm from one base to another. It states that

\log_{b} x = \frac{\log_{c} x}{\log_{c} b}

where

b

and

c

are any two bases.

Let's say we want to evaluate the logarithm

\log_{5} 100

. We can use the change of base formula to convert this logarithm to a different base, like base

10

\log_{5} 100 = \frac{\log_{10} 100}{\log_{10} 5}

Now, we can use a calculator (or our knowledge of logarithms) to evaluate the two base-

10

logarithms on the right side of the equation:

\log_{5} 125 \approx \frac{2}{0.6989 …} \approx 2.861

How can we use logarithms to solve exponential equations?

Logarithms can be a really useful tool for solving exponential equations. For example, say we want to solve

2^{x} = 10

. We can take the logarithm of both sides, and use the properties of logarithms to isolate the variable:

\begin{aligned} 2^{x} & = 9 \\ \log_{10} 2^{x} & = \log_{10} 9 \\ x \log_{10} 2 & = \log_{10} 9 \\ x & = \frac{\log_{10} 9}{\log_{10} 2} \\ x & \approx 3.167 \end{aligned}

How are logarithms and radicals used in the real world?

Logarithms and radicals are used in lots of different ways in the real world. They are important in fields like finance, engineering, and science. For example, the Richter scale, which measures the magnitude of earthquakes, uses a logarithmic scale. This means that a magnitude 6 earthquake is actually ten times stronger than a magnitude 5 earthquake!

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Algebra 2