Properties of Logarithms
Properties of Logarithmic Functions
Let b>0, b≠1, let x and y be positive numbers, and let r be any real number. Then the following properties hold:
The range of logbx is all real numbers.
The domain of logbx is all positive real numbers.
For b>1, logbx>0 for x>1 and logbx<0 for 0<x<1; for 0<b<1 the inequalities reverse.
logb1=0
logbx⋅y=logbx+logby
logbxy=logbx−logby
logb1x=−logbx
logbxr=r logbx
If x>y and b>1 then logbx>logby. If x>y and 0<b<1 then logbx<logby. That is, logbx is an increasing function if b>1 and a decreasing function if 0<b<1.
x=logby exactly when y=bx. That is, the logarithmic and exponential functions with the same base are inverses of each other. In particular, logbbx=x=blogbx.
Using the properties of logarithms
The calculator shown here is missing a few keys (no multiplication or division keys). Nonetheless, it is still possible to perform any arithmetic calculation involving only +, -, ×, or ÷ operations. This is because the calculator has "10 to the power of" and "logarithm base 10" keys.
Try it out. Can you compute these values?
4/3
93123×23485
5217.308+234.33×941.226177.332
The "log" button represents the base 10 logarithmic function. The calculator displays answers to 2 decimal places.
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