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LOGARITHMS
 1. BASICS OF LOGARITHMS
To understand basics you need to grasp concept of basic indices
(powers0.
We will first look at the powers of 10 since the standard base for logs is
base 10.

Please use a scientific calculator to prove the following

Powers of 10 Logarithms in Base 10
100 = 1 Log10 1 = 0
101 = 10 Log10 10 = 1
102 = 100 Log10 100 = 2
103 = 1 000 Log10 1 000 = 3
104 = 10 000 Log10 10 000 = 4

You can see that a logarithm is a power which must be raised to the base
to give a value. For instance, on 2nd row, we must raise 10 (base) to the
power 1 (logarithm) to get 10.
On 3rd row, we must raise 10 (base) to the power 2 (logarithm) to get
100
On the last row, we must raise 10 (base) to the power 4 (logarithm) to
get 10 000
Let’s also demonstrate the same concept on the powers of 2. Use a
calculator to prove the following
Powers of 2 Logarithms in base 2
20 = 1 Log2 1 = 0
21 = 2 Log2 2 = 1
22 = 4 Log2 4 = 2
23 = 8 Log2 8 = 3
24 = 16 Log2 16 = 4
You can also see that a logarithm is a power that a base must be raised
to, to give a value
On 3rd row, we must raise 2 (base) to the power 2 (log) to give 4
On 4th row, we must raise 2 (base) to the power 3 (log) to give 8

We can derive logarithmic concepts from above demonstrations

Consider that Log10 10 = 1 and Log2 2 = 1, we can derive the first law
Logx x = 1
This means log of any number in base of equal value is 1
Also note that on the first rows in both cases Log10 1 = 0 and Log2 1 = 0,
Our second law become
Logx 1 = 0
This means log of 1 in any base equals Zero
In the next sections we will look at other laws of logarithms
 2. ADDITION AND SUBTRACTION OF LOGARITHMS
Under this section we will first look at the law of adding logarithms
log a + log b = log (ab)
this means if we are adding logarithms, we can express them as a single
logarithm by multiplying the values
lets have some examples on this
i) log 2 + log 3
= log (2 × 3)
= log 6

ii) log 5 + log 3

= log (5× 3)
= log 15

iii) log + log

= log ( )
= log

When subtracting logarithms, we express it as a single logarithm by

dividing the values

log a – log b = log ( )

Examples:
i) log 21 – log 7 ii) log 70 – log 3,5
= log ( ) = log ( )
= log 3 =log 20
 3. INDICES IN LOGARITHMS
In this section I will highlight how you can solve logarithms involving
indices. The formula is
log x n = n log x
Examples
i) log 23 ii) log 81 iii) log 25
= 3 log 2 = log 34 = log 52
= 4log 3 = 2 log 5

Note that the power becomes a co-efficient of a logarithm.

Lets now consider further concepts
 4. FINDING LOGARITHM VALUE
You can be tested to evaluate a log given a base.
i) Evaluate log2 16

Method 1: Convert to Method 2: Convert from

powers of the base. logs to Indices

= log2 24 log2 16 = x
= 4 log2 2 16 = 2x
[NB: log2 2 = 1] 24 = 2x
= 4 (1) 4=x
=4 log2 16 = 4

ii) Evaluate log3 45 – log3 5

This cannot be solved by using the first method at this stage.
Lets first use the principle of subtraction we learnt in the 2nd
lesson.

= log3 ( )
Or You can use the
= log3 9
second method
We can now convert to
Log3 9 = x
powers of the base
9 = 3x
= log3 32
3 2 = 3x
= 2 log3 3
2=x
= 2 (1)
=2
iii) Evaluate 1 + log3 9
First evaluate log3 9
= 1 + [log3 32]
= 1 + [2 log3 3]
=1+2
=3

You can also use another method to evaluate logarithms

 5. EVALUATION OF LOGARITHMS
In this section we will look on how to evaluate logarithms with a
division sign
Examples

i) Evaluatev ii) Evaluate

= ( )
=
( )

= ( )
=
( )
=
( )
=
[ the identical logs will ( )

cancel each other]

( )
=
=3 ( )

[ identical logs will

divide ]

This is how we evaluate logarithms with a division sign.

 6. DEALING WITH LOGARITM VALUES
In this section, we are going to use all principles learnt in the previous
lessons. Lets dive into an example
i) Given that log 3 = 0,4771 and log 5 = 0,6991, find
a) log 1
b) log 30
Solution: [Tip – find division and multiplication combinations]

a) log
log 5 – log 3
= 0,6991 – 0,4771
= 0,222

b) log 30
log (3 × 10)
= log 3 + log 10
NB: if not given log bases, use base ten
= 0,4771 + 1
= 1,4771
This is how we deal with logarithms given values of the log. Try to find
division, multiplication and indices combinations. Check the three laws
we looked at in the beginning of the topic
 7. ALGEBRA IN LOGARITHMS
All principles are also tested in this section and you must be familiar
with how to deal with equations, including simultaneous and quadratic
equations.
i) If log13 (x2 + 25) = 2, find two values of x.

Solution
remove logarithms and then deal with quadratic equation
x2 + 25 = 132
x2 + 25 = 169
x2 = 169 – 25
x2 = 144
x=√
x = +12 0r – 12

ii) Given that logx 81 = log2 16, find the value of x

Solution:
Lets first find the value of log2 16

Logx81 = log2 24
Logx 81 = 4 log2 2
Logx 81 = 4
81 = x4
34 = x4
3=x
 iii) Express log5 (x + 1) – log5 (2x) as a single logarithm

Solution: Divide values since it’s a multiplication

= log5

This marks the end of our tutorials on logarithms. There are exercise
questions and answers on the next pages.
PAST EXAM QUESTIONS

1. Express 2 – 2 log 50 as a logarithm of a single number. [1]

2. Given that log 216 = 2,334 and log 3 = 0,477, evaluate
a) log 2,16
b) log 6
c) log 72 [5]
3. It is given that log10 50 = 1,69897 correct to 5 decimal places
a) Write down log10 50 correct to 4 decimal places [1]
b) Evaluate, giving each answer correct to 4 decimal places
i) Log10 5 ii) log10 25 [2]
c) Evaluate log10 2, giving your answer correct to 2 decimal places
[2]
4. Evaluate log9 81 + 2 log4 8 [3]
5. Given that log10 (x + 2) + log10 (x + 4) = 1, show that x2 + 6x – 2= 0
[3]
6. Show that 2 log5 (3x + 2) – log5 2 = 1 reduces to 3x2 + 4x – 2 = 0
[4]
ANSWERS TO THE EXAM QUESTIONS

1. log
2. a) 0,344 b) 0,778 c) 1,857
3. a) 1,6990 b)i) 0,6990 bii) 1,3980 c) 0,3010
4. 5
5. Show
6. Show
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