ProblemYou need to take the logarithm of a number. SolutionFor logarithms to base e, use java.lang.Math 's log( ) function: // Logarithm.java double someValue; // compute someValue... double log_e = Math.log(someValue); For logarithms to other bases, use the identity that: where x is the number whose logarithm you want, n is any desired base, and e is the natural logarithm base. I have a simple LogBase class containing code that implements this functionality: // LogBase.java public static double log_base(double base, double value) { return Math.log(value) / Math.log(base); } DiscussionMy log_base function allows you to compute logs to any positive base. If you have to perform a lot of logs to the same base, it is more efficient to rewrite the code to cache the log(base) once. Here is an example of using log_base: // LogBaseUse.java public static void main(String argv[]) { double d = LogBase.log_base(10, 10000); System.out.println("log10(10000) = " + d); } C:> java LogBaseUse log10(10000) = 4.0 |