Saying that logaM =x means exactly the same thing as saying ax = M .
In other words:
Keep this in mind in thinking about logarithms. It makes lots of things obvious.
For example: What is log2 8? Ask yourself "To what power should I raise 2 in order to get 8?" Since 8 is 23 the answer is "3." So log28=3.
Here's another way that remembering the rule:
can make some things almost obvious. For example, what is 2 log2 5? Note that log2 5 is the power to which 2 is being raised.
But log2 5 is the number to which you raise 2 in order to get 5! So if you raise 2 to that number you get 5!! In other words
2 log2 5 = 5.
Let's use
to understand logarithms of product. For example: What is log2(8*32)?
Notice that 8=23 and 32=25 so 8*32=2325 = 23+5 =28 .
But this means that
log2(8*32)=log2(28) = 8 = 3+5=
log2(23)+log2(25)=log2(8)+log2(32)
In other words, the log of the product 8*32 equals the sum of the logs of 8 and 32.
Of course there is nothing special about the base 2. The same idea holds for other logarithms.
Apply this idea to the following examples: