Logarithms Tutorial for Chemistry Students 1 …

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Boston University CH102 - General ChemistrySpring 2012Logarithms Tutorial for Chemistry Students1 What is a logarithm? Logarithms are the mathematical function that is used to represent the number (y) to which a base integer (a) israised in order to get the numberx:x=ay,wherey= loga(x). Most of you are familiar with the standard base-10 logarithm:y= log10(x),wherex= 10y. A logarithm for which the base is not specified (y= logx) is always considered to be a Easy LogarithmsThe simplest Logarithms to evaluate, which most of you will be able to determine by inspection, are those whereyis an integer value. Take the power of 10 s, for example:log10(10) = 1101= 10log10(100) = 2102= 100log10(1000) = 3103= 1000log10(10000) = 4104= 10000log10(1) = 0100= 1log10( ) = 110 1= ( ) = 210 2= ( ) = 310 3= ( ) = 410 4= Rules of Manipulating LogarithmsThere are four main algebraic rules used to manipulate Logarithms :Rule 1:Product Rulelogauv= logau+ logavRule 2:Quotient Rulelogauv= logau logavRule 3:Power Rulelogauv=vlogau1Boston University CH102 - General ChemistrySpring

Boston University CH102 - General Chemistry Spring 2012 1.5 Natural Logarithms Natural logarithms are a speci c subset of the general logarithm (x = a

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