log {base}R Documentation

Logarithms and Exponentials

Description

log computes natural logarithms, log10 computes common (i.e., base 10) logarithms, and log2 computes binary (i.e., base 2) logarithms. The general form logb(x, base) computes logarithms with base base.

log1p(x) computes log(1+x) accurately also for |x| << 1 (and less accurately when x is approximately -1).

exp computes the exponential function.

expm1(x) computes exp(x) - 1 accurately also for |x| << 1.

Usage

log(x, base = exp(1))
logb(x, base = exp(1))
log10(x)
log2(x)

log1p(x)

exp(x)
expm1(x)

Arguments

x a numeric or complex vector.
base a positive or complex number: the base with respect to which logarithms are computed. Defaults to e=exp(1).

Details

exp, expm1, log and log1p are generic functions: methods can be defined for them individually or via the Math group generic.

log10 and log2 are only convenience wrappers, but logs to bases 10 and 2 (whether computed via log or the wrappers) will be computed more efficiently and accurately where supported by the OS.

logb is a wrapper for log for compatibility with S. If (S3 or S4) methods are set for log they will be dispatched. Do not set S4 methods on logb itself.

Value

A vector of the same length as x containing the transformed values. log(0) gives -Inf (when available).

S4 methods

exp is S4 generic and a member of the Math group generic.

Note

log and logb are the same thing in R, but logb is preferred if base is specified, for S-PLUS compatibility.

References

Becker, R. A., Chambers, J. M. and Wilks, A. R. (1988) The New S Language. Wadsworth & Brooks/Cole. (for log, log10 and exp.)

Chambers, J. M. (1998) Programming with Data. A Guide to the S Language. Springer. (for logb.)

See Also

Trig, sqrt, Arithmetic.

Examples

log(exp(3))
log10(1e7)# = 7

x <- 10^-(1+2*1:9)
cbind(x, log(1+x), log1p(x), exp(x)-1, expm1(x))

[Package base version 2.5.1 Index]