log scale
Powers of ten
A log scale is a way of displaying numerical data where each unit represents a tenfold increase rather than a fixed amount.
On a standard scale, the distance from 1 to 2 equals the distance from 2 to 3; on a log scale, equal distances represent equal ratios—1 to 10, then 10 to 100.
Log scales make exponential growth visible as straight lines and compress vast ranges into readable charts: The earthquake chart uses a log scale because magnitudes span from imperceptible tremors to catastrophic events.
- exponentialIncreasing by constant ratio
- exponential growthQuantity multiplying proportionally over time
- axisRotation reference line
- graphVisual data display
- decibelTenth of a bel
Richter · earthquake magnitude · magnitude · orders · base · base ten · powers of ten · order of magnitude · power · compression · earthquake · pH · octave · doubling · scientific · notation · growth · decay
- forestry toolsaxe, hatchet, handsaw, bow saw, pole saw
- Logarithmsln, antilog, mantissa, characteristic, product rule
- exponentsexponent, exponential function, exponential growth, exponential decay, e
- Power Laws80/20 rule, 80-20 rule, long tail
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