use the chage of base formula and a calculator to approximate log(3)8 to four decimal places???

Question

I keep getting a syntax on my calculator screen... I must not have the right one...

Answer 1

It's log 8/log 3.

Answer 2

Depending on your calculator you may want to change the base to 10 or e (2.71828). Thus changing the base to the one that your calculator can handle you get:

ln(8)/ln(3) - base e
or
log(8)/log(3) - base 10

This uses the formula that log base b of x can be changed to any other base (n) if you use the formula of (log base n of x)/(log base n of b)

Answer 3

The change of base formula specifically applied to your problem would go as follows:

log[base 3](8) = log [base b](8) / log [base b](3).

You can choose *any* value of b and you'd get the same result. In order for this to be calculator friendly, you would have to choose either base 10 (so you're dealing with log) or base e (so you're dealing with ln. Let's choose base 10.

Then, what you would calculate is log(8) / log(3).
Alternatively, you can calculate ln(8) / ln(3).