logarithm Meaning, Definition & Usage
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noun the exponent required to produce a given number
log.
WordNet
Log"a*rithm noun
Etymology
Gr. word, account, proportion + number: cf. F.Definitions
(Math.) One of a class of auxiliary numbers, devised by John Napier, of Merchiston, Scotland (1550-1617), to abridge arithmetical calculations, by the use of addition and subtraction in place of multiplication and division. The relation of logarithms to common numbers is that of numbers in an arithmetical series to corresponding numbers in a geometrical series, so that sums and differences of the former indicate respectively products and quotients of the latter; thus 0 1 2 3 4 Indices or logarithms
1 10 100 1000 10,000 Numbers in geometrical progression
Hence, the logarithm of any given number is the exponent of a power to which another given invariable number, called the base, must be raised in order to produce that given number. Thus, let 10 be the base, then 2 is the logarithm of 100, because10 , and 3 is the logarithm of 1,000, because2 = 10010 .3 = 1,000