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Alright, I'm helping a friend, but can't seem to be able to crack this question :

If
$\log_3 20 = a$,
$\log_3 15 = b$

then how do we represent with a,b
$\log_2 360$?

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    i'm sure its 2.2011-09-08

2 Answers 2

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First, we realize that $\log_3 5 = b-1$. Then $\log_3 4 = a-(b-1)$, and $\log_3 2 = (a-(b-1))/2$. So $\log_2 3 = 2 / (a-(b-1))$ and also $\log_2 5 = \log_3 5 / \log_3 2 = 2(b-1)/(a-(b-1))$. Finally, $\log_2 360 = 3 + \log_2 45 = 3 + 2\log_2 3 + \log_2 5 = 3 + \frac{2b+2}{a-b+1}$.

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A variant of the solution by @Craig is to observe that $360=20\times 2\times 9=2\cdot 3^{a+2}\qquad\text{(Equation $1$)}$ But we have also $360=15\times 8\times 3=8\cdot 3^{b+1} \qquad\text{(Equation $2$)}$

From the first equation we obtain $\log_2 360=1+(a+2)\log_2 3 \qquad\text{(Equation $3$)}$

From the second equation we obtain $\log_2 360=3+(b+1)\log_2 3 \qquad\text{(Equation $4$)}$

Use Equations $3$ and $4$ to solve for $\log_2 3$ in terms of $a$ and $b$, and substitute in Equation $3$.