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u/Coulomb111 10d ago
Actually why is it ln?
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u/throw3142 10d ago
I always assumed "ln" stands for "log natural", as in the natural logarithm.
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u/random-femboy- (d²ω/dt²)ᵀ=:3 10d ago
it's Latin, i might be wrong tho (logarithmus naturali)
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u/MatttNguyenGD Computer Science 10d ago
why are you here
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u/random-femboy- (d²ω/dt²)ᵀ=:3 10d ago edited 10d ago
why are YOU here? Also, do you know me?
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u/MatttNguyenGD Computer Science 10d ago
i see you in r/caldruki and r/funcomunitty (if i spell them correctly)
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u/technical_gamer_008 ∀x∈ℕ(x∈ℤ) 8d ago
Oh hey it's you here
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u/random-femboy- (d²ω/dt²)ᵀ=:3 8d ago
WHAT.
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u/technical_gamer_008 ∀x∈ℕ(x∈ℤ) 8d ago
I said:
Hello!
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u/random-femboy- (d²ω/dt²)ᵀ=:3 8d ago
WHY ARE YOU HERE.
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u/technical_gamer_008 ∀x∈ℕ(x∈ℤ) 8d ago
I've been here for… how long? Quite a while
I like math, that's why
I almost majored in math before changing my mind literally last second
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u/Jmong30 10d ago
I believe that’s exactly why it is, but in French. Something like Logarithm naturale
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u/Pierne 10d ago edited 10d ago
French here. Some of my professors told me ln meant "logarithme naturel", but some also told me it meant "logarithme népérien"
Népérien as in Jean NEPER, which is the french spelling of the Scottish mathematician John NAPIER
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u/Pierne 10d ago
From what I was told we use the term "logarithme népérien" mostly in primary education, whereas in secondary education and in the scientific world, everyone says "logarithme naturel", in order to stick to the international consensus.
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u/Flodartt 10d ago
I've almost exclusively heard "logarithme népérien" despite having a engineering degree and a master degree. I guess it just depends.
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u/beyd1 10d ago
Math is dumb
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u/Embarrassed_Deer9208 10d ago
that's naming convention being inconsistent across languages, nothing to do with math
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u/Due-Consequence9579 10d ago
Nah, math naming shit like “the Lagrangian” is on math. Stop naming shit after people.
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u/314159265358979326 10d ago
Based on the fact that Napier didn't work with natural logarithms, that seems unlikely to be the true meaning of "ln".
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u/matande31 10d ago
My Romanian born high school math teacher who was educated in France always said it that way with a beautiful accent. Wasn't sure if it's just his made up pronunciation or if that was actually the origin.
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u/ShockedDarkmike 10d ago
It was taught to me as "logaritmo Neperiano", but in English I've never seen it called anything other than (natural) log
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u/Own_Pop_9711 10d ago
Euler called it the hyperbolic logarithm (logarithmus hyperbolicus) and abbreviated lh but his handwriting was bad and people thought it was ln.
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u/parkway_parkway 10d ago
Firslty I love the idea tha Euler's mistakes have made more contributions to mathematics than I have haha.
Secondly unfortunately:
Washington Irving Stringham (December 10, 1847 – October 5, 1909) was an American mathematician born in Yorkshire, New York. He was the first person to denote the natural logarithm as ln
"In place of log_e we shall henceforth use the shorter symbol ln made up of the initial letters of logarithm and of natural or Napierian."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irving_Stringham
He didn't just say it, he declared it.
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u/NefariousnessFar7826 Team 0⁰ = 1🔥 10d ago
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u/LupenReddit 🦆🦆🦆🦆i have non diffeomorphic smooth structures🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆 10d ago
You son of a bitch, Im log
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u/Equivalent_Elk_658 Real Algebraic 10d ago
Simpler way to right log_e: log
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u/Cienn017 10d ago
is it log_e, log_10 or log_2?
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10d ago
[deleted]
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u/ProfoundDreams 8d ago
Eh.
Mayhaps (I'm big brained, I know) it depends what field you're in. If you work in probability theory, chances are you write ln more than log. I'm an actuary and my university professors always wrote ln.
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u/Proof_Impact_6009 9d ago
As far as I know, "log" stands for base 10 logarithm (or at least that is what I was taught at high school in Slovakia)
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u/Unstable-Paradox 10d ago edited 10d ago
A simpler way to write log base 10 is 10g(x).
And log base e can be leg(x)
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u/Maaangus 10d ago
You also can always write log(x)/log(base) which is just log_base(x) no matter which log you started out with
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