What I know:
$x={\log_{47}8}$ and $y=\log_{376}128$
How do I do this without using a calculator?
If $47^x = 8$ and $376^y = 128$ , find $\frac{3}{x}-\frac{7}{y}$
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0This is my first question, so I don't know how to edit and format, hopefully you can know what I'm trying to tell. – 2017-02-13
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0Thank you very much for editing this. – 2017-02-13
6 Answers
No logs, no calculator. :)
$$47^x=8=2^3\Longrightarrow 47=2^{3/x}\\ 376^y=128=2^7\Longrightarrow 376=2^{7/y}$$ Dividing, $$\frac {2^{3/x}} {2^{7/y}}=\frac {47}{376}=\frac 18\\ 2^{3/x-7/y}=2^{-3}\\ \frac 3x-\frac 7y=\color{red}{-3}$$
Solve for $x$ and $y$ first --- for instance, $x = \dfrac{\log 8}{\log 47}$. Then evaluate the expression.
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0I'm sorry, but I still cannot solve this. – 2017-02-13
$47^x$=$2^3$ and $376^y$=$2^7$ take logarithms with base 2 both sides and you get $\frac{3}{x}$=$log_247$ and $\frac{7}{y}$=$log_2376$ just subtract them to get $\frac{3}{x}$ - $\frac{7}{y}$=$log_2\frac{47}{376}$ which is equal to $-3$.
$$\frac{3}{x}-\frac{7}{y}=\log_2{47}-\log_2{376}=\log_2{\frac{1}{8}}=-3$$
As Umberto said you can use the log function which helps in your case: Here is a detailed solution:
Take the log on both side:
$\log(47)^x = log(8)$, using the properties of log you can write it as:
$x \log(47) = \log(8)$, divide both sides with $\log(47)$
$x = \frac{\log(8)}{\log(47)} $
Simiralry, solve for y:
$y = \frac{\log(128)}{\log(376)}$
Then substitute in the original question:
$3 * \frac{\log(47)}{\log(8)} - 7 * \frac{\log(376)}{\log(128)}$
We want to calculate $$\frac{3}{x}-\frac{7}{y}=3\frac{log_247}{log_28}-7\frac{log_2376}{log_2128}=3\frac{log_247}{3}-7\frac{log_2376}{7}=log_2(\frac{47}{376})=log_2(\frac{1}{8})=-3$$