1) We must solve for x the following equation:
To solve this equation, we take the natural logarithm to both sides of the equation:
Now, we use the following results:
Replacing these results in the equation above, we have:
Solving for x, we get:
2) We must solve for x the following equation:
To solve this problem, we isolate the part that involves the x:
Now, using the following property:
with:
we have:
Solving the last equation for x, we get:
Answers
1) The value of x that solves the first equation is 0.64 to two decimal places.
2) The value of x that solves the second equation is 3.90 to two decimal places.
Review of the base of a logarithm
We can define the logarithm in base a through the following equations:
When we use as a base the Euler number e ≅ 2.718, the logarithm is called "natural" and we use the following notation for it:
With this notation, we have the following properties: