Why we use logarithm?

1 Answer
Mar 30, 2017

Some thoughts...

Explanation:

I am not sure what the context of your question is, but logarithms - especially the natural logarithm - occur naturally in a variety of circumstances.

The natural logarithm ln x is the inverse of the exponential function e^x, which has lots of interesting properties.

When you get onto calculus, you will find that the natural logarithm occurs as the integral of 1/x...

int 1/x dx = ln abs(x) + C

Logarithms are the basis upon which slide rules work.

On a practical note, logarithms allow us to express on a linear scale the measure of physical properties that vary exponentially.

For example, the pH of a solution is -log_10 of the hydrogen ion concentration. In pure water there are about 10^(-7) parts OH^- ions and 10^(-7) parts H^+ (actually H_3O^+) ions. So neutral pH is 7. As a solution becomes more acidic, the concentration of H^+ increases and the concentration of OH^- ions decreases in proportion. So an acid with pH 1 has a 10^(-1) concentration of H^+ (i.e. one part in 10) and a 10^(-13) concentration of OH^-.

Another example would be decibels, which are a logarithmic measure of loudness.

If you are trying to create a model of experimental data that you suspect is exponential, then you would typically take the logarithm of measured values against a variety of input values, then use linear regression to find a line of best fit. Then reverse the logarithm by taking the exponential of that line to get an exponential curve of best fit for your data.