Engineering

Mathematics –
Lecture 3
Logarithms

isc.tees.ac.uk
Learning Outcomes
At the end of this week, students should be able to:

• Define a logarithm

• Differentiate between common and natural logarithms

• Evaluate logarithms to any base

• State the laws of logarithms

• Simplify expressions and solve equations involving logarithms

• Solve indicial equations

2
Logarithms in Engineering
Engineers use both natural and common logarithms in
many applications. For example,
❑Chemical engineers measure radioactive decay and pH
solutions using the logarithmic scale.
❑Biomedical engineers use logarithms to measure cell
decay and growth, and the light intensity for bone
mineral density.
❑ Electrical engineers use a dB (decibel) scale for
expressing attenuation in radio propagation and circuit
gains, and logarithms are used for implementing
arithmetic operations in digital circuits.

3
Logarithms in Engineering
❑ Logarithms are very useful when dealing with the
graphical analysis of non-linear relationships and
logarithmic scales are used to linearize data to make
data analysis simpler.
What is Logarithm?
Consider that we have an expression 32 = 25

We can write this same expression as log 2 32 = 5

This is read as ‘log to the base 2 of 32 equals 5’.

We can see that the logarithm is the same as the power in the
original expression and that the base in the original expression
is the base of the logarithm.

The two statements 𝟑𝟐 = 𝟐𝟓 and 𝐥𝐨𝐠 𝟐 𝟑𝟐 = 𝟓 are equivalent

If 𝒚 = 𝒂𝒙 then 𝒙 = 𝐥𝐨𝐠 𝒂 𝒚
What is Logarithm?
5 is the power or the logarithm.

𝟑𝟐 = 𝟐𝟓 𝐥𝐨𝐠 𝟐 𝟑𝟐 = 𝟓

2 is the Base.
logarithm of 32 with base 2 is 5.

Example: How many 3’s do we multiply to get 81?

3 x 3 x 3 x 3 = 81 or 34 = 81 or log381 = 4

Hence, base is 3; logarithm or Power is 4; result is 81

 Common logarithms: Base 10

10 x 10 x 10 = 1000 or 103 = 1000

Hence, base is 10; logarithm or power is 3; result is 1000

log101000 = 3
or
log1000 = 3
(log10 can be written without a base as log)

Example: 101.88366 = 76.5

Hence, base is 10; logarithm or Power is 1.88366; result is 76.5

log1076.5 = 1.88366 log76.5 = 1.88366

Common and Napierian Logarithms
❑ Logarithms having a base of 10, i.e., log10 are called
common logarithms and are usually abbreviated to lg.
Examples: lg 36.5 = 1.5622 …
lg 0.0125 = −1.9030 …

❑ Logarithms having a base of 𝑒 (where 𝑒 is a

mathematical constant approximately equal to 2.7183)
are called Napierian, hyperbolic or natural logarithms.
log 𝑒 is usually abbreviated as ln.
Examples: ln 4.5 = 1.5040 …
ln 0.145 = −1.931 …
 Logarithms to Other Bases
Consider loga y = x This is read as log of y to the base a equals x, where base a
is a positive number, eg. 2, 10 etc.

Hence, base is a; logarithm or power is x; result is y

We can therefore write y = ax

Therefore if, loga y = x then we can also write y=ax

Note, because a > 0, then a x > 0 for all values of x ie y > 0,

for this reason, logs of negative numbers are not defined.
 Logarithms
Use the relationship

and Not your calculator, to find the value of k in each of the following:

log 10 1000 = k 10 k = 1000 = k = 3

log 3 k = 4 k = 34 = 81
log k 32 = 5 32 = k 5 = k = 2

Special Cases: log a 1 = 0

Remember, a > 0
1 = log a a
Worked Examples
1. Evaluate log 2 4
Let 𝑥 = log 2 4 then 2𝑥 = 4 from the definition of a logarithm.
2𝑥 = 22 , from which 𝑥 = 2
Hence, 𝐥𝐨𝐠 𝟐 𝟒 = 𝟐

2. Evaluate log16 8
Let 𝑥 = log16 8 then 16𝑥 = 8

24 𝑥 = 23

24𝑥 = 23
3
4𝑥 = 3 and 𝑥 =
4
𝟑
Hence, 𝐥𝐨𝐠 𝟏𝟔 𝟖 =
𝟒
Worked Examples
3. Evaluate lg 0.0001
Let 𝑥 = lg 0.0001 = log10 0.0001
Then 10𝑥 = 10−4
From which, 𝑥 = −4
Hence, 𝐥𝐠 𝟎. 𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟏 = −𝟒
4. Evaluate ln 𝑒
Let 𝑥 = ln 𝑒 = log e e
Then 𝑒 𝑥 = 𝑒
𝑒 𝑥 = 𝑒1
From which 𝑥 = 1
Hence, ln 𝑒 = 1
Worked Examples
1
5. Evaluate log 3
81
1 1 1
Let 𝑥 = log 3 then 3𝑥 = = = 3−4
81 81 34
From which 𝑥 = −4
𝟏
Hence, 𝐥𝐨𝐠 𝟑 = −𝟒
𝟖𝟏

6. Solve the equation log 5 𝑥 = −2

−2 1 𝟏
If log 5 𝑥 = −2 then 𝑥 = 5 = =
52 𝟐𝟓
Practice Exercise
Evaluate the following expressions.
1. log 4 8
2. ln e2

Solve the following equations.

3. lg x = −2
4
4. log 8 x = −
3
5. ln x = 3
Laws of logarithms
To help us work with logarithms there are three ‘laws’ that we need to be
familiar with:

First law loga x + loga y = loga xy

These are equivalent
to the laws of Indices
Second law loga x – loga y = loga x/y
You are given these in
exam situations.
Third law loga x k = k loga x

We can use these laws to:

• simplify/combine expressions involving logarithms
• help solve equations involving logarithms.
Worked Examples
1. Write log 4 + log 6 as the logarithm of a single
number.

log 4 + log 6 = log(4 × 6) = 𝐥𝐨𝐠 𝟐𝟒

2. Write log 16 − log 2 as the logarithm of a single

number.

16
log 16 − log 2 = log = 𝐥𝐨𝐠 𝟖
2
Worked Examples
1
log 25−log 125+2 log 625
3. Evaluate
3 log 5

1 1
log 25 − log 125 + log 625 log 52 − log 53 + log 54
2 = 2
3 log 5 3 log 5

4
2 log 5 − 3 log 5 + log 5
= 2
3 log 5

1 log 5 𝟏
= =
3 log 5 𝟑
Practice Exercise
Write the following as the logarithm of a single number.
1. log 2 + log 3
2. 2 log 2 + log 3
1 1
3. log 8 − log 81 + log 27
3 2

Evaluate the following expression.

1
log 9−log 3+ log 81
2
4.
2 log 3
Indicial equations
The laws of logarithm may be used to solve certain
equations involving powers called indicial equations.
For example, to solve, say, 3𝑥 = 27, logarithms to a base of
10 are taken of both sides,
log10 3𝑥 = log10 27
𝑥𝑙𝑜𝑔10 3 = log10 27

log10 27
𝑥= =𝟑
log10 3

log 27 27
𝑁𝑜𝑡𝑒, 𝑖𝑠 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑎𝑙 𝑡𝑜 log
log 3 3
Worked Example
A gas follows the polytropic law 𝑃𝑉 1.25 = 𝐶. Determine the new
volume of the gas, given that its original pressure and volume are 101
kPa and 0.35 𝑚3 , respectively, and its final pressure is 1.18 MPa.
If 𝑃𝑉 1.25 = 𝐶, then 𝑃1 𝑉11.25 = 𝑃2 𝑉21.25

𝑃1 = 101 𝑘𝑃𝑎, 𝑃2 = 1.18 𝑀𝑃𝑎 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑉1 = 0.35 𝑚3

Therefore, 101 × 103 0.35 1.25 = 1.18 × 106 𝑉21.25

101 × 103 0.35 1.25

𝑉21.25 =
1.18 × 106

𝑉21.25 = 0.02304
Worked Example
log10 𝑉21.25 = log10 0.02304

1.25 log10 𝑉2 = log10 0.02304

log10 0.02304
log10 𝑉2 = = −1.3100
1.25

𝑽𝒐𝒍𝒖𝒎𝒆 𝑽𝟐 = 10−1.3100 = 𝟎. 𝟎𝟒𝟗 𝒎𝟑

Practice Exercise
Solve the indicial equations for x, each correct to 4 significant
figures.

1. 2x = 9

2. x −0.25 = 0.792

3. A gas follows the polytropic law PV1.26 = C. Determine the

new volume of the gas, given that its original pressure and
volume are 101 kPa and 0.42 m3 , respectively, and its final
pressure is 1.25 MPa.
Learning Outcomes
At the end of this week, students should be able to:

• Define a logarithm

• Differentiate between common and natural logarithms

• Evaluate logarithms to any base

• State the laws of logarithms

• Simplify expressions and solve equations involving logarithms

• Solve indicial equations

23
Asynchronous Tasks
Evaluate the following:
1
1. log 4 𝑥 = −2
2
2. log 3 𝑥 = 2

Solve the given equation.

3. log 𝑥 4 − log 𝑥 3 = log 5𝑥 − log 2𝑥
4. 0.027𝑥 = 3.26