Sample Exponent and Log Reflection
by Wes Basinger
Posted on April 6, 2016 at 9:00 PM
It has been a long time since I have taught logarithms, but it has always been an enjoyable topic for me. I find that students enjoy the freshness of a new topic towards the end of the year. Really, the best way for me to explain logarithms is to say they are the algebra of exponents.
In this first picture, you can see an example of rewriting a a logarithm as an exponent. You can see that the base is 8, the result is x and the exponent is 6.
In this case it would be fairly simple to solve for x, all you would do is raise 8 to the 6th power. That is actually quite a large number, 262,144 to be exact.
This illustrates an important feature of exponents, they are the fastest growing type equation there is.
This is an example of how exponents are used in real life.
This is the compound interest formula. P is equal to principle, R is equal to rate, N is equal to number of times compounded, and T is equal to time.
Compound interest is the 8th wonder of the world. - Albert Einstein
I certainly hope my students can continue to learn and grow in their knowledge of exponents. This will certainly be of use to them as they go into higher types of mathematics.