MATH 602

PRE-CALCULUS

TOPIC 4: LIMIT OF LOGARITHMIC FUNCTION.

If b > 0 and b ≠ 1, the exponential function f(x) = bx is either increasing or decreasing and
so it is one-to-one by the Horizontal Line Test. It therefore has an inverse function f – 1.
This is called the logarithmic function with base b and is denoted by logb. If we use the
formulation of an inverse function given by

f – 1(x) = y ↔ f(y) = x

then we have

Logbx = y ↔ by = x
Thus, if x > 0, then logb x is the exponent to which the base b must raised to give
x.

Example 1:

(a) log3 81 = 4 →because 34 = 81

(b) log25 5 = ½ →because 251/2 = 5

(c) log10 0.001 = - 3 →because 10-3 = 0.001

The cancellation equations, when applied to the function f(x) = bx and f –1(x) = logbx,
become

logb(bx) = x for every x є R

blogbx = for every x > 0

The logarithmic function logb has domain (0, ∞) and range R. Its graph is the reflection
of the graph of y = bx about the line y= x.

Figure 1.29 shows the case where b > 1. (The most important logarithmic functions
have base b > 1.) The fact that y = bx is a very rapidly increasing function for x > 0 is
reflected in the fact that y = log bx is a very slowly increasing function for x > 1.

Figure 1.30 shows the graph of y = logbx with various values of the base b > 1. Since
logb1 = 0 the graphs of all logarithmic functions pass through the point (1, 0).

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ENGR. NESTOR C. ALCON
PROFESSOR
MATH 602
PRE-CALCULUS

y
y=x y = log2x

y = log3x
1
y = bx, b > 1

0 X 0 1
y =log5x
y = log10x

y = logbx, b> 1

Figure 1.29 Figure 1.30

The following theorem summarizes the properties of logarithmic functions.

Theorem
If b > 1, the function f(x) = logbx is a one-to-one, increasing function
with domain (0, ∞) and range R. If x, y > 0 and r is any real number,
then

1. logb(xy) = logbx + logby

x
2. logb ------ = logbx - logby
y

3. logb (xr) = rlogbx

Properties 1, 2, & 3 follow from the corresponding properties of exponential functions

given in the theorem of the previous section.

Example 2:

Use the properties of logarithms to evaluate the following.

(a) log4 2 + log432

(b) log2 80 – log25

Using property 1:
log4 2 + log4 32 = log4(2 ∙ 32) = log4 64 =3; since 43 = 64
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PROFESSOR
MATH 602
PRE-CALCULUS

Using property 2:
log280 – log25 = log2 (80/5) = log2 16 = 4; since 24 = 16

The limits of exponential functions given in Section 1.3 are reflected in the following
limits of logarithmic functions.

If b > 1, then
lim logbx = ∞ and limlogbx = - ∞
x→∞ x→0+

In particular, the y-axis is a vertical asymptote of the curve y = logbx

Example 3:

Find lim log10 (tan2 x)

x→0

As x → 0, we know that t = tan2 x → tan2 0 = 0 and the values of t are positive. So with
b = 10 > 1. We have

Lim log10 (tan2 x) = lim log10 t = -∞

x→0 x→0

Natural Logarithms:

Of all possible bases b for logarithms, the most convenient choice of bases is the
number ẹ, which was defined in section 3.1. The logarithm with base ẹ is called the
natural logarithm and has a special notation:

loge x = ln x

If we put b = ẹ and replace logẹ with “ln” in the previous equations, then the defining
properties of the natural logarithm function become

ln x = y ↔ ey = x

ln x = y xєR

eln x = x x>0

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ENGR. NESTOR C. ALCON
PROFESSOR
MATH 602
PRE-CALCULUS

In particular, if we set x = 1, we get

ln e = 1

Example 4:

Find x if ln x = 5

From the given equation above we see that

ln x = 5 means e5 = x
5
Therefore x = e

(If you have trouble working with the “ln” notation, just replace it by log e. Then the
equation becomes loge x = 5; so, by the definitions of logarithm, e 5 = x.

Solution 2:

Start with the equation

ln x = 5

and apply the exponential function to both sides of the equation:

eln x = e5

but the second cancellation equation says that eln x = x, therefore x = e5

Example 5:

Solve equation e5 – 3x = 10

We take natural logarithms of both sides of the equation and use the second
cancellation equation (eln x = x):

ln (e5 – 3x) = ln 10

5 – 3x = ln 10

3x = 5 – ln 10

1
x = --- (5 – ln 10)
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ENGR. NESTOR C. ALCON
PROFESSOR
MATH 602
PRE-CALCULUS

Since the natural logarithm is found on scientific calculator, we can approximate the
solution: to six decimal places, x = 899138 →answer.

Example 6:
1
Express: ln a + -- ln b as a single logarithm.
2

Using properties 3 & 1 of logarithm, we have

1
ln a + --- ln b = ln a + ln b1/2
2

= ln a + ln√b

= ln (a√b) → answer

The following formula shows that logarithms with any base can be expressed in terms of
the natural logarithm.

Change of base formula

For any positive number b (b ≠ 1), we have

ln x
logb x = -----
ln b

Proof:

Let y = logb x. Then we have by = x. Taking natural logarithms of both sides of this
equation, we get

y ln b = ln x

Therefore;
ln x
y = ----------
ln b

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ENGR. NESTOR C. ALCON
PROFESSOR
MATH 602
PRE-CALCULUS

Example 7:

Evaluate log8 5 correct to six decimal places

Change the base of the formula

ln 5
log85 = ------ ≈ 0.773976
ln 8

Graph and Growth of the Natural Logarithm:

The graph of the exponential function y = ex and its inverse function, the natural
logarithm function, are shown in Figure 1.31. Because the curve y = ex crosses the y –
axis with a slope of 1, it follows that the reflected curve y = ln x crosses the x-axis with
a slope of 1.
In common with all other logarithmic functions with the base greater than 1, the natural
logarithm is an increasing function defined on (0, ∞) and the y-axis is a vertical
asymptote. If we put b = e, then we has the following limits:

lim ln x = ∞ lim ln x = - ∞
x→∞ x→0+

y y = ex

1 y = ln x

0 1 x

Figure 1.31

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ENGR. NESTOR C. ALCON
PROFESSOR
MATH 602
PRE-CALCULUS

The graph of y = ln x is the reflection of the graph of y = ex about the line y = x.

Example 8:

Sketch the graph of the function y = ln(x – 2) – 1.

We start with the graph of y = ln x as given in Figure 1.31. Using the transformations, we
shift it 2 units to the right to get the graph of y = ln(x – 2) and then we shift it 1 unit
downward to get the graph of y = ln(x – 2) – 1. See Figure 1.32

y y y
x=2 x=2

y = ln x y = ln(x – 2) y = ln(x – 2) - 1

0 (1, 0) x 0 2 (3,0) x 0 2 3
(3, -1)

Figure 1.32

Notice that the line x = 2 is a vertical asymptote since

lim [ ln(x – 2) – 1] = - ∞
x→2+

Exercises:
Find the limit.

1. lim ln(x2 – 9) 2. lim log5 (8x – x4)

+
x→3 x→2—

3. lim ln(cos x) 4. lim ln(sin x)

x→0 x→0+

5. lim [ ln(1 + x2) – ln(1 + x)] 6. lim [ln(2 + x) – ln(1 + x)]

x→∞ x→∞

7. lim log3 (x3 – 8) 8. lim log5 (x3 – 9x)

x→2 x→3

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ENGR. NESTOR C. ALCON
PROFESSOR
MATH 602
PRE-CALCULUS

9. lim log7 (tan x) 10. lim log (sec 2x)

x→/2 x→0+

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ENGR. NESTOR C. ALCON
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