Method 1 of 3: Reading a Logarithmic Table

1.

1
Understand what a logarithm is. 102 is 100. 103 is 1000. The powers 2 and 3 are
the base-10 logarithms, or common logs, of 100 and 1000. [1] In general, ab = c can
be rewritten as logac = b. So, saying "ten to the power of two is 100" is equivalent to
saying "the base-ten log of 100 is two." Log tables are base 10 (use the common
log), so a must always be 10.
o

Multiply two numbers by adding their powers. For example: 10 2 * 103 =

105, or 100 * 1000 = 100,000.

The natural log, represented by "ln", is the base-e log, where e is the

constant 2.718. This is a useful number in many areas of math and physics. You can
use natural log tables in the same way that you use common, or base-10, log tables.
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2
Identify the characteristic of the number whose natural log you want to find.15
lies between 10 (101) and 100 (102), so its logarithm will lie between 1 and 2, or be
1.something. 150 lies between 100 (102) and 1000 (103), so its logarithm will lie
between 2 and 3, or be 2.something. The .something is called the mantissa; this is

what you will find in the log table. What comes before the decimal point (1 in the first
example, 2 in the second) is the characteristic.

3
Slide your finger down to the appropriate row on the table using the leftmost
column. This column will show the first two or, for some large log tables, three digits
of the number whose logarithm you're looking up. If you're looking up the log of 15.27
in a normal log table, go to the row marked 15. If you're looking up the log of 2.57, go
to the row marked 25.

Sometimes the numbers in this row will have a decimal point, so you'll

look up 2.5 rather than 25. You can ignore this decimal point, as it won't affect your
answer.[2]
Also ignore any decimal points in the number whose logarithm you're

looking up, as the mantissa for the log of 1.527 is no different from that of the log of
152.7.

4
On the appropriate row, slide your finger over to the appropriate column.This
column will be the one marked with the next digit of the number whose logarithm
you're looking up. For example, if you want to find the log of 15.27, your finger will be

on the row marked 15. Slide your finger along that row to the right to find column 2.
You will be pointing at the number 1818. Write this down.

5
If your log table has a mean difference table, slide your finger over to the
column in that table marked with the next digit of the number you're looking
up. For 15.27, this number is 7. Your finger is currently on row 15 and column 2.
Slide it over to row 15 and mean differences column 7. You will be pointing at the
number 20. Write this down.

6
Add the numbers found in the two preceding steps together. For 15.27, you will
get 1838. This is the mantissa of the logarithm of 15.27.

7
Add the characteristic. Since 15 is between 10 and 100 (101 and 102), the log of 15
must be between 1 and 2, so 1.something, so the characteristic is 1. Combine the
characteristic with the mantissa to get your final answer. Find that the log of 15.27 is
1.1838.

Method 2 of 3: Finding the Anti-Log

1.

1
Understand the anti-log table. Use this when you have the log of a number but not
the number itself. In the formula 10n = x, n is the common log, or base-ten log, of x. If
you have x, find n using the log table. If you have n, find x using the anti-log table.
o

The anti-log is also commonly known as the inverse log.

2
Write down the characteristic. This is the number before the decimal point. If
you're looking up the anti-log of 2.8699, the characteristic is 2. Mentally remove it
from the number you're looking up, but make sure to write it down so you don't forget
it - it will be important later.

3
Find the row that matches the first part of the mantissa. In 2.8699, the mantissa
is .8699. Most anti-log tables, like most log tables, have two digits in the leftmost
column, so run your finger down that column until you find .86.

4
Slide your finger over to the column marked with the next digit of the
mantissa. For 2.8699, slide your finger along the row marked .86 to find the
intersection with column 9. This should read 7396. Write this down.

5
If your anti-log table has a table of mean differences, slide your finger over to
the column in that table marked with the next digit of the mantissa. Make sure
to keep your finger in the same row. In this case, you will slide your finger over to the
last column in the table, column 9. The intersection of row .86 and mean differences
column 9 is 15. Write that down.

6
Add the two numbers from the two previous steps. In our example, these are
7396 and 15. Add them together to get 7411.

7
Use the characteristic to place the decimal point. Our characteristic was 2. This
means that the answer is between 102 and 103, or between 100 and 1000. In order
for the number 7411 to fall between 100 and 1000, the decimal point must go after
three digits, so that the number is about 700 rather than 70, which is too small, or
7000, which is too big. So the final answer is 741.1.

Method 3 of 3: Multiplying Numbers Using Log Tables

1.

1
Understand how to multiply numbers using their logarithms. We know that 10 *
100 = 1000. Written in terms of powers (or logarithms), 10 1 * 102 = 103. We also know
that 1 + 2 = 3. In general, 10x * 10y = 10x + y. So, the sum of the logarithms of two
different numbers is the logarithm of the product of those numbers. We can multiply
two numbers of the same base by adding their powers.

2.

2
Look up the logarithms of the two numbers you want to multiply. Use the
method above to find the logarithms. For example, if you want to multiply 15.27 and
48.54, you would find the log of 15.27 to be 1.1838 and the log of 48.54 to be
1.6861.

3.

3
Add the two logarithms to find the logarithm of the solution. In this example,
add 1.1838 and 1.6861 to get 2.8699. This number is the logarithm of your answer.

4.

4
Look up the anti-logarithm of the result from the above step to find the
solution. You can do this by finding the number in the body of the table closest to
the mantissa of this number (8699). The more efficient and reliable method, however,
is to find the answer in the table of anti-logarithms, as described in the method
above. For this example, you will get 741.1.