PLANE AND SPHERICAL
TRIGONOMETRY
LOGARITHMS
Engr. Teody R. Martinez
College of Engineering
Naga College Foundation
1 of 26 © Boardworks Ltd 2005
Exponential Functions
Exponential functions
Contents
Logarithms
The laws of logarithms
Solving equations using logarithms
2 of 26 © Boardworks Ltd 2005
Exponential Functions
So far in this course we have looked at many functions
involving terms in xn.
In an exponential function, however, the variable is in the
index. For example:
x x x –x x+1
y=2 y=5 y = 0.1 y=3 y=7
The general form of an exponential function to the base a is:
y = ax where a > 0 and a ≠1.
You have probably heard of exponential increase and decrease
or exponential growth and decay.
A quantity that changes exponentially either increases or
decreases increasingly rapidly as time goes on.
3 of 26 © Boardworks Ltd 2005
Exponential Functions
When a > 1 the graph of y = ax When 0 < a < 1 the graph of
has the following shape: y = ax has the following shape:
y y
1 1 (1, a)
(1, a)
x x
In both cases the graph passes through (0, 1) and (1, a).
This is because:
a0 = 1 and a1 = a
for all a > 0.
4 of 26 © Boardworks Ltd 2005
Logarithms
Exponential functions
Contents
Logarithms
The laws of logarithms
Solving equations using logarithms
5 of 26 © Boardworks Ltd 2005
Logarithms
Find p if p3 = 343
We can solve this equation by finding the cube root of 343:
p = 3 343
p=7
Now, consider the following equation:
Find q if 3q = 343
We need to find the power of 3 that gives 343.
One way to tackle this is by trial and error.
Use the xy key on your calculator to find q to 2 decimal places.
6 of 26 © Boardworks Ltd 2005
Logarithms
To avoid using trial and improvement we need to define the
power y to which a given base a must be raised to equal a
given number x.
This is defined as: y = loga x
“y is equal to the logarithm, to the base a, of x”
The expressions y = loga x and ay = x are interchangeable.
This can be written using the implication sign :
y = loga x ay = x
For example, 25 = 32 can be written in logarithmic form as:
log2 32 = 5
7 of 26 © Boardworks Ltd 2005
Logarithms
Taking a log and raising to a power are inverse operations.
We have that: y = loga x ay = x
So: aloga x = x
Also: y = loga ay
For example:
log7 2
7 =2 and log3 36 = 6
8 of 26 © Boardworks Ltd 2005
Logarithms
9 of 26 © Boardworks Ltd 2005
Laws of Indices
10 of 26 © Boardworks Ltd 2005
The Laws of Logarithms
Exponential functions
Contents
Logarithms
The laws of logarithms
Solving equations using logarithms
11 of 26 © Boardworks Ltd 2005
Some important results
When studying indices we found the following important
results:
a1 = a
This can be written in logarithmic form as:
loga a = 1
a0 = 1
This can be written in logarithmic form as:
loga 1 = 0
It is important to remember these results when manipulating
logarithms.
12 of 26 © Boardworks Ltd 2005
The Laws of Logarithms
The laws of logarithms follow from the laws of indices:
The Multiplication Law
Let: m = loga x and n = loga y
So: x = am and y = an
xy = am × an
Using the multiplication law for indices:
xy = am + n
Writing this in log form gives:
m + n = loga xy
But m = loga x and n = loga y so:
loga x + loga y = loga (xy)
13 of 26 © Boardworks Ltd 2005
The Laws of Logarithms
The Division Law
Let: m = loga x and n = loga y
So: x = am and y = an
x am
= n
y a
Using the division law for indices:
x
= a m−n
y
Writing this in log form gives:
x
m − n = loga
y
But m = loga x and n = loga y so:
x
loga x − loga y = loga
y
14 of 26 © Boardworks Ltd 2005
The Laws of Logarithms
The Power Law
Let: m = loga x
So: x = am
xn =(am)n
Using the power law for indices:
xn =amn
Writing this in log form gives:
mn = loga xn
But m = loga x so:
n loga x = loga xn
15 of 26 © Boardworks Ltd 2005
The Laws of Logarithms
These three laws can be used to combine several logarithms
written to the same base. For example:
Express 2loga 3 + loga 2 – 2loga 6 as a single logarithm.
2loga 3 + loga 2 − 2loga 6 = loga 32 + loga 2 − loga 62
= loga 9 + loga 2 − loga 36
9×2
= loga
36
1
= loga 2
16 of 26 © Boardworks Ltd 2005
The Laws of Logarithms
The laws of logarithms can also be used to break down a
single logarithm. For example:
1
2
ab 2
Express log10 4
in terms of log10 a, log10 b and log10 c
c
1
2
ab 2
1
log10 4 = log10 a b − log10 c 4
2 2
c 1
= log10 a + log10 b − log10 c 4
2 2
= 2log10 a + 21 log10 b − 4log10 c
Logarithms to the base 10 are usually written as log or lg.
We can therefore write this expression as:
2log a + 21 log b − 4log c
17 of 26 © Boardworks Ltd 2005
Logarithms to the Base 10
and to the Base e
Although the base of a logarithm can be any positive number,
there are only two bases that are commonly used.
These are:
Logarithms to the base 10
Logarithms to the base e
Logarithms to the base 10 are useful because our number
system is based on powers of 10.
They can be found by using the log key on a calculator.
Logarithms to the base e are called napierian or natural
logarithms and have many applications in maths and science.
They can be found by using the ln key on a calculator.
18 of 26 © Boardworks Ltd 2005
Changing the Base of a
Logarithm
Suppose we wish to calculate the value of log5 8.
We can’t calculate this directly using a calculator because it
only find logs to the base 10 or the base e.
We can change the base of the logarithm as follows:
Let x = log5 8
So: 5x = 8
Taking the log to the base 10 of both sides:
log 5x = log 8
x log 5 = log 8
log 8
x=
log 5
log 8
So: log5 8 = = 1.29
19 of 26
log 5 © Boardworks Ltd 2005
Changing the base of a
logarithm
If we had used log to the base e instead we would have had:
ln 8 1.29
log5 8 = =
ln 5
In general, to find loga b:
Let x = loga b, so we can write ax = b
Taking the log to the base c of both sides gives:
logc ax = logc b
xlogc a = logc b
logc b
x=
logc a
logc b
So: loga b =
logc a
20 of 26 © Boardworks Ltd 2005
Solving Equations using
Logarithms
Exponential functions
Contents
Logarithms
The laws of logarithms
Solving equations using logarithms
21 of 26 © Boardworks Ltd 2005
Solving Equations
involving Logarithms
We can use the laws of logarithms to solve equations.
For example:
Solve log5 x + 2 = log5 10
To solve this equation we have to write the constant value 2 in
logarithmic form:
2 = 2 log5 5 because log5 5 = 1
= log5 52
= log5 25
The equation can now be written as:
log5 x + log5 25 = log5 10
log5 25x = log5 10
25x = 10
22 of 26
x = 0.4
© Boardworks Ltd 2005
Solving Equations of the
x
form a = b
We can use logarithms to solve equations of the form ax = b.
For example:
Find x to if 52x = 30.
We can solve this by taking logs of both sides:
log 52x = log 30
2x log 5 = log 30
log 30
2x =
log 5
log 30
x=
2log 5
Using a calculator:
x = 1.06
23 of 26 © Boardworks Ltd 2005
Solving Equations of the
x
form a = b
Find x to 3 significant figures if 43x+1 = 7x+2.
Taking logs of both sides:
log 43 x +1 = log 7 x +2
(3 x +1)log 4 = ( x + 2)log 7
3 x log 4 + log 4 = x log 7 + 2log 7
x(3log 4 − log 7) = 2log 7 − log 4
2log 7 − log 4
x=
3log 4 − log 7
𝑥 = 1.13
24 of 26 © Boardworks Ltd 2005
