Logarithm
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- This page describes the dyadic arithmetic function. For the monadic natural logarithm function, see Natural Logarithm.
Logarithm (⍟
), or Log, is a dyadic scalar function which computes the logarithm of the two arguments. More precisely, X⍟Y
computes how much power of X equals Y, i.e. the value of R that satisfies Y=X*R
. Logarithm shares the glyph ⍟
with the monadic arithmetic function Natural Logarithm. The glyph, a composition of the glyphs for Circular (○
) and Power (*
) to indicate its close mathematical ties with these two functions, is a stylised tree log.[1]
Examples
2⍟0.5 1 2 32 1024 ¯1 0 1 5 10
Logarithm can be used to determine how many digits are needed to write a positive integer Y in base X:
Digits←{1+⌊⍺⍟⍵} ToBase←⊥⍣¯1 (2 Digits 100) (2 ToBase 100) ┌─┬─────────────┐ │7│1 1 0 0 1 0 0│ └─┴─────────────┘ (10 Digits 100) (10 ToBase 100) ┌─┬─────┐ │3│1 0 0│ └─┴─────┘
Works in: Dyalog APL
Properties
By definition, logarithm is the inverse of the power with the same base (left argument).
2*1 2 3 4 5 2 4 8 16 32 2⍟2 4 8 16 32 1 2 3 4 5 2 (*⍣¯1 ≡ ⍟) ⍳10 1
Works in: Dyalog APL
Reciprocal on the left or right argument gives the negated result.
2⍟÷2 4 8 16 32 ¯1 ¯2 ¯3 ¯4 ¯5 (÷2)⍟2 4 8 16 32 ¯1 ¯2 ¯3 ¯4 ¯5
See also
External links
Documentation
References
- ↑ McDonnell, E. E.. Recreational APL: The Story of
○
. APL Quote-Quad, Volume 8, Number 2, 1977-12.