Lexic.us

Definition of Logarithm

1. Noun. The exponent required to produce a given number.

Definition of Logarithm

1. n. 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.

Definition of Logarithm

1. Noun. (mathematics) For a number $x$, the power to which a given ''base'' number must be raised in order to obtain $x$. Written $\backslash log\_b\; x$. For example, $\backslash log\_\{10\}\; 1000\; =\; 3$ because $10^3\; =\; 1000$ and $\backslash log\_2\; 16\; =\; 4$ because $2^4\; =\; 16$. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Logarithm

1. [n -S]

Medical Definition of Logarithm

1. 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, because 10^2 = 100, and 3 is the logarithm of 1,000, because 10^3 = 1,000. Arithmetical complement of a logarithm, the difference between a logarithm and the number ten. Binary logarithms. See Binary. Common logarithms, or Brigg's logarithms, logarithms of which the base is 10; so called from Henry Briggs, who invented them. Gauss's logarithms, tables of logarithms constructed for facilitating the operation of finding the logarithm of the sum of difference of two quantities from the logarithms of the quantities, one entry of those tables and two additions or subtractions answering the purpose of three entries of the common tables and one addition or subtraction. They were suggested by the celebrated German mathematician Karl Friedrich Gauss (died in 1855), and are of great service in many astronomical computations. Hyperbolic, or Napierian, logarithms, those logarithms (devised by John Speidell, 1619) of which the base is 2.7182818; so called from Napier, the inventor of logarithms. Logistic or Proportionallogarithms. Origin: Gr. Word, account, proportion + number: cf. F. Logarithme. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998)

Lexicographical Neighbors of Logarithm

Literary usage of Logarithm

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. The American Practical Navigator: Being an Epitome of Navigation and by Nathaniel Bowditch, George Wood Logan (1906)
"Thus, the index of the logarithm of any number (integral or mixed) between 10 ... To find the logarithm of any number between 100 and 1000, find the given ..."

2. Mathematical Tables;: Containing the Common, Hyperbolic, and Logistic by Charles Hutton (1811)
"To find the logarithm of a Number consisting of 4 Places. In the first column (signed N) in some one of the pages of the tabi« after the first four, ..."

3. A Dictionary of Science, Literature, & Art: Comprising the Definitions and by George William Cox (1866)
"The exponent of tliat power is said to be the logarithm of the number to that base. Thus 10 being the base, the logarithm of 1000 is 3, and generally if n ..."

4. The Encyclopedia Americana: A Library of Universal Knowledge (1919)
"1899). of a number is n times the logarithm of the number. ... The common logarithm of a number is the index of the power to which 10 must be raised to be ..."

5. The New American Practical Navigator: Being an Epitome of Navigation by Nathaniel Bowditch (1826)
"Find the logarithm of the number as if it was an integer by the last rule, to which prefix the index of the integer part of the given number. ..."

6. The Encyclopædia Britannica: A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, Literature and by Hugh Chisholm (1911)
"ж, then a is called the base, and x is said to be the logarithm of m to the base o. This relation between x,a,m, may be expressed also by the equation x ..."

7. College Algebra by Henry Lewis Rietz, Arthur Robert Crathorne (1919)
"To find from the table the logarithm of a given number. EXAMPLES 1. Find the logarithm of 821. Glance down the column headed N for the first two significant ..."

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