Question 79396

The logarithm of a number has a mantissa and a characteristic.
The mantissa is the fractional part and the characteristic is the whole number part.

For example {{{ log(350) = 2 + log(3.50) = 2.5441 }}}
The characteristic is 2 and the mantissa is 0.5441.

For another example {{{ log(0.0035) = -3 + log(3.50) = -3 + 0.5441 = -2.4559 }}}
The characteristic is -3 and the mantissa is still 0.5441

This is sometimes written as a (3 with a bar over it).5441 to show the 3 is negative and the rest of the number is positive.  Your teacher may vary.