Part 1

History of Logarithm

The logarithm of a number is the exponent to which another fixed value, the base, must be raised to produce that number. For example, the logarithm of 1000 to base 10 is 3, because 1000 is 10 to the power 3: 1000 = 101010 = 103. More generally, if x = by, then y is the logarithm of x to base b, and is written y = logb(x), so log10(1000) = 3. The Babylonians sometime in 20001600 BC may have invented the quarter square multiplication algorithm to multiply two numbers using only addition, subtraction and a table of squares. However it could not be used for division without an additional table of reciprocals. Large tables of quarter squares were used to simplify the accurate multiplication of large numbers from 1817 onwards until this was superseded by the use of computers. Michael Stifel published Arithmetica integra in Nuremberg in 1544, which contains a table of integers and powers of 2 that has been considered an early version of a logarithmic table. In the 16th and early 17th centuries an algorithm called prosthaphaeresis was used to approximate multiplication and division. This used the trigonometric identity

or similar to convert the multiplications to additions and table lookups. However logarithms are more straightforward and require less work. It can be shown using complex numbers that this is basically the same technique.

John Napier (15501617), the inventor of logarithms

Logarithms were invented independently by John Napier, a Scotsman, and by Joost Burgi, a Swiss. Napier's logarithms were published in 1614, in a book titled Mirifici Logarithmorum Canonis Descriptio (Description of the Wonderful Rule of Logarithms). Burgi's logarithms were published in 1620. The objective of both men was to simplify mathematical calculations. This approach originally arose out of a desire to simplify multiplication and division to the level of addition and subtraction. Napier's approach was algebraic and Burgi's approach was geometric. The invention of the common system of logarithms is due to the combined effort of Napier and Henry Biggs in 1624. Natural logarithms first arose as more or less accidental variations of Napier's original logarithms. Their real significance was not recognized until later. The earliest natural logarithms occur in 1618. Johannes Kepler, who used logarithm tables extensively to compile his Ephemeris and therefore dedicated it to Napier. By repeated subtractions Napier calculated (1 107)L for L ranging from 1 to 100. The result for L=100 is approximately 0.99999 = 1 105. Napier then calculated the products of these numbers with 107(1 105)L for L from 1 to 50, and did similarly with 0.9998 (1 105)20 and 0.9 0.99520. These computations, which occupied 20 years, allowed him to give, for any number N from 5 to 10 million, the number L that solves the equation

Napier first called L an "artificial number", but later introduced the word "logarithm" to mean a number that indicates a ratio: (logos) meaning proportion, and (arithmos) meaning number. In modern notation, the relation to natural logarithms is:

where the very close approximation corresponds to the observation that

The invention was quickly and widely met with acclaim. The works of Bonaventura Cavalieri (Italy), Edmund Wingate (France), Xue Fengzuo (China), and Johannes Kepler's Chilias logarithmorum (Germany) helped spread the concept further. In 1647 Grgoire de Saint-Vincent related logarithms to the quadrature of the hyperbola, by pointing out that the area f(t) under the hyperbola from x = 1 to x = t satisfies

The natural logarithm was first described by Nicholas Mercator in his work Logarithmotechnia published in 1668, although the mathematics teacher John Speidell had already in 1619 compiled a table on the natural logarithm. Around 1730, Leonhard Euler defined the exponential function and the natural logarithm by

Euler also showed that the two functions are inverse to one another.

By simplifying difficult calculations, logarithms contributed to the advance of science, and especially of astronomy. They were critical to advances in surveying, celestial navigation, and other domains. Pierre-Simon Laplace called logarithms

A key tool that enabled the practical use of logarithms before calculators and computers was the table of logarithms. The first such table was compiled by Henry Briggs in 1617, immediately after Napier's invention. Subsequently, tables with increasing scope and precision were written. These tables listed the values of logb(x) and bx for any number x in a certain range, at a certain precision, for a certain base b (usually b = 10). For example, Briggs' first table contained the common logarithms of all integers in the range 11000, with a precision of 8 digits. As the function f(x) = bx is the inverse function of logb(x), it has been called the antilogarithm. The product and quotient of two positive numbers c and d were routinely calculated as the sum and difference of their logarithms. The product cd or quotient c/d came from looking up the antilogarithm of the sum or difference, also via the same table:

and

For manual calculations that demand any appreciable precision, performing the lookups of the two logarithms, calculating their sum or difference, and looking up the antilogarithm is much faster than performing the multiplication by earlier methods such as prosthaphaeresis, which relies on trigonometric identities. Calculations of powers and roots are reduced to multiplications or divisions and look-ups by

and

Many logarithm tables give logarithms by separately providing the characteristic and mantissa of x, that is to say, the integer part and the fractional part of log 10(x). The characteristic of 10 x is one plus the characteristic of x, and their significands are the same. This extends the scope of logarithm tables: given a table listing log10(x) for all integers x ranging from 1 to 1000, the logarithm of 3542 is approximated by

Another critical application was the slide rule, a pair of logarithmically divided scales used for calculation, as illustrated here:

Schematic depiction of a slide rule. Starting from 2 on the lower scale, add the distance to 3 on the upper scale to reach the product 6. The slide rule works because it is marked such that the distance from 1 to x is proportional to the logarithm of x.

The non-sliding logarithmic scale, Gunter's rule, was invented shortly after Napier's invention. William Oughtred enhanced it to create the slide rulea pair of logarithmic scales movable with respect to each other. Numbers are placed on sliding scales at distances proportional to the differences between their logarithms. Sliding the upper scale appropriately amounts to mechanically adding logarithms. For example, adding the distance from 1 to 2 on the lower scale to the distance from 1 to 3 on the upper scale yields a product of 6, which is read off at the lower part. The slide rule was an essential calculating tool for engineers and scientists until the 1970s, because it allows, at the expense of precision, much faster computation than techniques based on tables.

Application of Logarithm

1.

Application of logarithm in measure the pH or acidity of a chemical solution

In chemistry, a solutions pH is defined by the logarithmic equation , where t is the hydronium ion concentration in moles per liter. We usually round pH values to the nearest tenth. Examples: a. Find the pH of a solution with hydronium ion concentration 4.5 x 10-5

2.

If t=4.5 x 10-5, then p(t)= -log10(4.5 x 10-5)= -(log104.5 + log1010-5)= -(log104.5 + (-5)(log1010))= -(.6532+-5)= -(-4.3468)=4.3.

b. Find the hydronium ion concentration of pure water, which has a pH of 7. Since water has a pH of 7, we know 7=-log10t and so 7=log10t-1; thus 107= t-1, and so the hydronium ion concentration of water is t=10-7 moles per liter.

Application of logarithm in measuring decibels of sound

The loudness of sound is measured in units called decibels. These units are measured by first assigning an intensity I0 to a very soft sound (which is called the threshold sound). The sound we wish to measure is assigned an intensity I, and we measure the decibel rating d of this sound with the equation Examples: .

a. Find the decibel rating of a sound with intensity 5000I0.

decibels

b. If a sound has a decibel rating of 85, how much more intense is it than the threshold sound?

, where the sound in question is k times as intense as the threshold sound. Thus , and so the sound is

times as intense as the threshold sound.

Conjecture
Before pocket calculators, it is needed logs to compute most powers and roots with fair accuracy; even multiplying and dividing most numbers were easier with logs. Every decent algebra books had pages and pages of log tables at the back. The invention of logs in the early 1600s fueled the scientific revolution. Back then scientists, astronomers especially, used to spend huge amounts of time crunching numbers on paper. By cutting the time they spent doing arithmetic, logarithms effectively gave them a longer productive life. The slide rule, once almost a cartoon trademark of a scientist, was nothing more than a device built for doing various computations quickly, using logarithms.

Today, logs are no longer used in routine number crunching. But there are still good reasons for studying them. Why do we use logarithms, anyway? To find the number of payments on a loan or the time to reach an investment goal To model many natural processes, particularly in living systems. We perceive loudness of sound as the logarithm of the actual sound intensity, and dB (decibels) are a logarithmic scale. We also perceive brightness of light as the logarithm of the actual light energy, and star magnitudes are measured on a logarithmic scale. To measure the pH or acidity of a chemical solution. The pH is the negative logarithm of the concentration of free hydrogen ions. To measure earthquake intensity on the Richter scale. To analyze exponential processes. Because the log function is the inverse of the exponential function, we often analyze an exponential curve by means of logarithms. Plotting a set of measured points on log-log or semi-log paper can reveal such relationships easily. Applications include cooling of a dead body, growth of bacteria, and decay of a radioactive isotopes. The spread of an epidemic in a population often follows a modified logarithmic curve called a logistic. To solve some forms of area problems in calculus. (The area under the curve 1/x, between x=1 and x=A, equals ln A.)

Part 2 As we were been told, my group and I had chosen 6 different spheres which we had made by using some plasticine and some steel balll. The diameters of the six spheres are ranging between 1cm to 8cm and the measurements of the diameter are made using vernier calipers in the physics lab. Below are the cross-sectional areas of all of the six spheres together with their diameters.

SPHERE 1 = 1.69 cm

SPHERE 2 = 2.22 cm

SPHERE 3 = 2.89 cm

SPHERE 4 = 3.39 cm

SPHERE 5 = 4.74 cm
GAMBAR VERNIER CALIPER DAN SPHERE

SPHERE 6 = 5.89 cm

Diagram show set of vernier callipers and different sphere

The six small spheres then are put into a beaker which contents 300 ml water known as initial volume in order to measure their volume by using water displacement method. Then, the six different spheres is put into the beaker to get the final volume. The value of volume, V was obtained by final volume initial volume and the value of volume obtained is tabulated together with the diameter, initial volume and final volume. Sphere 1 2 3 4 5 6 Diameter, D (cm) 1.69 2.22 2.89 3.39 4.74 5.89 Initial Volume (cm) 300 300 300 300 300 300 Final Volume (cm) 302.5 305.7 312.6 320.4 355.8 407.0 Volume, V (cm) 2.5 5.7 12.6 20.4 55.8 107.0

The volume, V in cm3, of a solid sphere and its diameter, D, in cm are related by the equation V=mDn, where m and n are constants. With two sets of values that we chose from the findings and using logaritms, the value of m and n are calculated as follows:

Part 3 The relation between the volume, V, and the diameter, D, in Part 2, is draw as follows:
V (cm3)

D (cm)

Graph above is drawn using the aid of computer software by with a scale of 1 cm to 5 units on the y-axis and 1 cm to 0.5 units on the x-axis

From drawn graphs above, we know that the value of m and n are not easily obtained from the graphs due to the non-linear relation. We would reduce the equation V = mDn to a linear form by adding log10 to the both side of the equation so that it could be easier for us to draw a line of best fit and determine the values of m and n. V = mDn log10 V = log10 (m . Dn) log10 V = log10 m + n log10 D log10 V = n log10 D + log10 m

Now, we could plot a graph with the line of best fit using the new equation that is derived from the equation V = mDn which is log10 V= n log10 D + log10 m. log10 V log10 D 0.3979 0.2279 0.7559 0.3466 1.0037 0.4609 1.3096 0.5302 1.7466 0.6758 2.0294 0.7701

Table above shows the value of log10 V and log10 D.

A graph is drawn using the aid of computer software with a scale of 2 cm to 0.1 unit on the xaxis and 4 cm to 0.5 unit on the y-axis: log10 V The graph of log10 V against log10 D

(0.85, 2.25)

(0.15, 0.13)

log10 D

-0.328

From the drawn graph, we could simply find the value of m by taking the value of y-intercept, c in the graph: log10 V = n log10 D + log10 m y = mx + c

log10 m = c log10 m = -0.328 m = 10 -0.328 m = 0.4699

The value of n is the gradient of the straight line, m from the graph: n=m

n=

n= n = 3.0286

Now, V can express in term of D: log10 V = n log10 D + log10 m log10 V = 3.0286 log10 D + log10 0.4699 log10 V= log10 (0.4699 . D3.0286) V= 0.4699 D3.0286