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When I was in high school, I never did figure out what logarithms were all about. (I must have been sick that week!). But in my first year university math and physics courses, I discovered that I needed to know what they were, and how they worked. So I went off to the library, found an old high school math textbook, and taught myself all about them. I discovered that they weren't that strange at all! The word 'logarithm' looked intimidating, but in fact it was really just a new name for something I already knew all about! Here's what a logarithm is. The word 'logarithm' just means 'exponent', or 'power'. That's all! Here's a logarithm:  You can even work it out in your head ... it's 2. How about if I asked you: 'What power of 2 is 8?' Hopefully, you'd immediately reply, '3'. Here's the logarithm that says this:  Here's another one: 'What power of 2 is 32?' The answer is of course '5'. Here's the logarithmic statement that says the same thing:  This time you try one. What does this mean?  |