From the course: Excel Statistics Essential Training: 2 (2019)

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Defining natural logs and exponents

Defining natural logs and exponents

From the course: Excel Statistics Essential Training: 2 (2019)

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Defining natural logs and exponents

- [Instructor] Sometimes a straight line is not the best way to summarize a scatterplot which takes us to nonlinear regression. Before we get into nonlinear regression though, I first have to tell you about logarithms and exponentials. Let's begin with logarithms. A logarithm is an exponent. It's a power to which you raise a number like 10 squared equals 100, 10 cubed equals 1,000. In the first case, we'd say that the logarithm of 100 with base 10 equals two. In the second case, we'd say that the logarithm of 1,000 with base 10 equals three, and you can probably figure out the logarithm of 10,000 to the base 10. What about a number like 756? That's like trying to solve for X in 10 the X power equals 756. What could that possibly be? 10 to the second power equals 100. 10 to the third power equals 1,000, but 756? You have to change your thinking a bit. You have to imagine exponents that are not whole numbers. How can you multiply a number by itself a fraction at a time? If you could…

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