logarithmic scale
Orders-of-magnitude ruler
A logarithmic scale measures quantities by orders of magnitude rather than equal increments—each step represents multiplication rather than addition.
On such a scale, the distance from 1 to 10 equals the distance from 10 to 100.
Logarithmic scales make vast ranges manageable: the Richter scale for earthquakes, decibels for sound intensity.
The graph uses a logarithmic scale to show exponential growth.
- slide ruleMechanical logarithmic calculator
- decibelTenth of a bel
- decibel levelQuantified acoustic intensity
- exponentialIncreasing by constant ratio
- exponential growthQuantity multiplying proportionally over time
power law · luminosity · orders of magnitude · half-life · inverse function · magnitude · scientific notation · asymptote · base · base ten · logarithmic tables · doubling · signal-to-noise ratio · compression ratio · ratio · orders · data compression · graph
- scalesweight, measure, balance, precision scales, beam balance
- Measurement ScalesApgar score
- Logarithmslog, ln, natural log, antilog, mantissa
- Simplificationsideal gas, frictionless, point source, rigid body, blackbody
- math termsnumbers, plus or minus, linear growth, square, operand
- graphsgraph, bar graph, line graph, pie chart, scatter plot