Exercise 3B

1 a log 4 256 = 4 3 g If log 4 ( 0.25

= ) x then=
4 x 0.25
= 1
4 ,
so x = −1
1 ( Negative power means 'reciprocal'.)
b log 3   = −2
9
h log 0.25 16 = x
c log10 1 000 000 = 6
⇒ 0.25 x =
16
x
d log11 11 = 1 1
⇒  = 16, so x = −2
4
e log 0.2 0.008 = 3   1 −2 
1 1
 = = = 16 
  4  ( )
1 2 ( 1
) 
2 a 24 = 16  4 16 

b 52 = 25 i log a ( a10 ) = x

1
a x a10 ,so
⇒= = x 10
c 9 =3 2

9
j log  2    = x
d 5 = 0.2
−1
 4
3

e 105 = 100 000 x

2 9 1 1 9
⇒   == 2 = =
3 a If =
log 2 8 x then
= 2 x 8,=
so x 3
3 4 ( 23 ) (9) 4
4

⇒ x =−2
b If =
log 5 25 x then
= 5 25,
= so x 2x

4 a Using a power, 54 = x
c If log10 10 000 000 = x So x = 625
then 10 x 10
= = 000 000, so x 7 b Using a power, x 2 = 81
So x = 9
d If log
= 12 12 x then
= 12 x 12,
= so x 1 (The base of a logarithm cannot be
negative, so x = −9 is not possible.)
e If =
log 3 729 x=
then 3x 729,
= so x 6
c Using a power, 71 = x
f If log10 10 = x So x = 7
then 10 x
= 10, so x
= 1
2 d 23 = x − 1
( Power 1
2 means 'square root'.) x = 23 + 1
=9

e 34 = 4x + 1
4x = 34 − 1
x = 14 (34 − 1)
= 20

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4 f Using a power,
x2 = 2 x
x2 − 2 x =
0
x ( x − 2) =
0
x=2
(The base of a logarithm cannot be 0,
so x = 0 is not possible)

5 a log9230 = 2.475

b log533 = 2.173

c log101020 = 3.009

d loge3 = 1.099

6 a Let log 2 50 = x
2x = 50
As 2 = 32 and 26 = 64,
5

32 < 2x < 64
25 < 2x < 26
So 5 < x < 6

b log 2 50 = 5.644

7 a i log 2 2 = 1

ii log 3 3 = 1

iii log17 17 = 1

b Let log a a = x
ax = a
x=1
∴ log a a = 1

8 a i log 2 1 = 0

ii log 3 1 = 0

iii log17 1 = 0

b Let log a 1 = x
ax = 1
x=0
∴ log a 1 = 0

© Pearson Education Ltd 2019. Copying permitted for purchasing institution only. This material is not copyright free.
2