Formative assessment worksheet

06 – Logarithms and power law functions

1) Perform the following calculations by taking logarithms (to the base 10) of both numbers,
adding or subtracting as appropriate, and then raising 10 to the power of the result. Write
down all the steps in your working.

a) 1728 × 1.374

b) 46,980 ÷ 19.2

2) The orbital velocity 𝑉 of a planet is related to its mean distance 𝐷 from the sun by the
equation:
𝐺𝑀
𝑉2 =
𝐷

where 𝐺 is the gravitational constant, and 𝑀 is the mass of the sun.

If values of log10 𝑉 are plotted on the vertical axis on linear graph paper against values of
log10 𝐷 on the horizontal axis for all the planets in the solar system, the points fall on a
straight line with gradient 𝑚 and intercept 𝑐.

Explain, with appropriate algebra and equations, how the graph may be used to determine
the mass of the sun.

3) The data in Table 1 have been obtained for the shell weight and body weight of a species of
gastropod.

a) Plot these data on a graph of log10 𝑆 (on the vertical axis) against log10 𝑊.

b) Determine the gradient and intercept, hence express the relationship between 𝑆 and 𝑊 in
the form 𝑆 = 𝑎𝑊 𝑏 .

Table 1

Shell weight, 𝑆 Body weight, 𝑊

(grams) (grams)
1.29 1.35
2.50 2.94
5.33 7.16
9.63 14.36
16.10 26.29
Free Multi-Width Graph Paper from http://incompetech.com/graphpaper/multiwidth/