LogarithmicFunction

DefinitionoftheLogarithmicFunction Letabeapositivenumberwith a 1 . Thelogarithmicfunctionwithbasea,denotedby log a isdefinedby

log a x = y a y = x .

* x > 0 Exp:(1) log 10 1000 = 3 10 3 = 1000 (2) log 2 32 = 5 2 5 = 32

1 (3) log 16 4 = 16 2 = 4 2
1

PropertiesofLogarithms 1. log a 1 = 0 2. log a a = 1 3. log a a x = x 4. a log

a

= x If log a x = y a y = x.

NaturalLogarithm Thelogarithmwithbaseeiscalledthenaturallogarithmanddenotedby ln x = log e x ln x = y e y = x PropertiesofNaturalLogarithms 1. ln 1 = 0 2. ln e = 1 3. ln e x = x 4. e ln x = x

Exp:1. ln e 8 = 8 1 2. ln( 2 ) = ln e 2 = 2 e LawofLogarithms Letabeapositivenumber,with a 1 .LetA,B,andCbeanyrealnumberswithA>0 andB>0. 1. log a ( AB) = log a A + log a B
A 2. log a ( ) = log a A log a B B

3. log a ( A C ) = C log a A WARNING:1. log a ( x + y ) log a x + log a y 2.

log 6 6 log( ) log 2 2

3 3. (log 2 x) 3 log 2 x ChangeofBaseFormula log a x log a x = log a b

Prove: Let y = log b x.

Then b y = x

Take log a ofeachside log a (b y ) = log a x

y log a b = log a x y = log a x log a b

Exp: a x = e ln a = e x ln a .
x