The word for the punctuation mark, on the other hand, comes from Îºá¿¶Î»Î¿Î½ (or kÅlon), which means âlimbâ or âclauseâ â and it is used because one of the main functions of the colon is to separate two clauses, where the second clause explains or follows from the first.
The goal in solving an equation is to get the variable by itself on one side of the equation and a number on the other side of the equation. To isolate the variable, we must reverse the operations acting on the variable. We do this by performing the inverse of each operation on both sides of the equation.
Let x and y be any real numbers: log x = y x = log inv (y) = 10^y Example: pH =13.22 = -log [H+] log [H+] = -13.22 [H+] = inv log (-13.22) = 10^(-13.22) [H+] = 6.0 x 10-14 M FINDING ANTILOGARITHMS using a calculator (also called Inverse Logarithm) Sometimes we know the logarithm (or ln) of a number and must work backwards to find the number itself. This is called finding the antilogarithm or inverse logarithm of the number. To do this using most simple scientific calculators, enter the number, press the inverse (inv) or shift button, then press the log (or ln) button. It might also be labeled the 10x (or ex) button.