I mean, I’ve used them in algebra many times but I never really understood what it does. Kinda like in biostatistics how I could do the math, but how it worked was beyond me entirely.
So yeah: like what’s this sorcery and what does it do/why do we use it?
In: Mathematics
It’s the operation that transforms multiplications into additions : log(a * b) = log(a) + log(b).
Two classic applications come to my mind:
**Logarithmic scale:** It can be useful if you’re working with something that grows “geometrically”, that is, through successive multiplications, so gets big very quick, and doesn’t fit on your graph paper sheet. Put it through the logarithm, and lo!, now it grows “arithmetically”, that is through successive additions, that’s more manageable to plot. Examples: Decibel scale for sound levels, infectious disease transmission formula.
**Inverse of power functions:** You know that 2 to the power of 5 is 32. Now if you know that 32 is a power of 2 but want to know which one, logarithm gives you the answer.
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