document.write( "Question 268905: write as the sum or difference of two or more logarithms:
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document.write( "1.log(4x)
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document.write( "2.ln 15
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document.write( "3.log 3/xy \n" );
document.write( "
Algebra.Com's Answer #197388 by jsmallt9(3758) ![]() You can put this solution on YOUR website! There are many possible answers to these problems. The purpose of these problems, I think, is to get you to show that you know how to use the properties of logarithms. So I will solve the problems this way. \n" ); document.write( "The two properties of logarithms that we will need are:
\n" ); document.write( "They allow us to take a single logarithm and rewrite it as the sum or difference of logarithms. Let's see how they work on your problems. \n" ); document.write( "1. log(4x) \n" ); document.write( "There are many ways to express 4x as a product/multiplication. So there are many ways to rewrite log(4x). Here are a few: \n" ); document.write( "log(4x) = log(4*x) = log(4) + log(x) \n" ); document.write( "log(4x) = log(2*2x) = log(2) + log(2x) \n" ); document.write( "log(4x) = log(16x*(1/4) = log(16x) + log(1/4) \n" ); document.write( "We could also write 4x as a quotient and use the second property. For example: \n" ); document.write( "log(4x) = log(20x/5) = log(20x) - log(5) \n" ); document.write( "2. ln(15) \n" ); document.write( "A product we could use for 15 could be 3*5 so \n" ); document.write( "ln(15) = ln(3*5) = ln(3) + ln(5) \n" ); document.write( "A quotient we could use for 15 could be 45/3 do \n" ); document.write( "ln(15) = ln(45/3) = ln(45) - ln(3) \n" ); document.write( "3. log(3/xy) \n" ); document.write( "Again, there are many many ways we could do this. Probably the most obvious is to start with the second property: \n" ); document.write( "log(3/xy) = log(3) - log(xy) \n" ); document.write( "You might be able to stop here. But, since the argument of the second logarithm is a product, we can use the first property on it. (Note the use of parentheses. They are especially important when replacing one logarithm with an expression of two logarithms!) \n" ); document.write( "log(3/xy) = log(3) - (log(x) + log(y))}}} \n" ); document.write( "And because of the \"-\" in front of the parentheses, we should subtract both of the terms inside: \n" ); document.write( "log(3/xy) = log(3) - log(x) - log(y)}}} \n" ); document.write( "(Without the use of parentheses, it would be very easy to end up with a \"+\" in front of log(y)!) \n" ); document.write( " |