Maths - ln

[Inquisitor]

Half of my friends pronounce it 'line', which is just weird

Log makes the most sense.

Natural log.

That's a bit of a mouthful when you're trying to pronounce a long expression involving lots of them though

 

[Carzy]

"Lun"

 

[Mad old tory]

el en here.

 

[waterproofbob]

Log

I presume when someone says log they are referring to the natural log unless otherwise stated.

 

[Energize]

el en

Thats how my physics teacher pronounces it anyway.

 

[crunchman]

Log

I presume when someone says log they are referring to the natural log unless otherwise stated.

Yup, and that's how my Physics teacher treats it.

 

[decmatt]

I have been saying "In" for two years Feel a bit of an idiot now

 

[Amleto]

log.

 

[Vixen]

Log

I presume when someone says log they are referring to the natural log unless otherwise stated.

Ditto. If I was talking to someone who didn't quite understand that though, I'd use the letters.

 

[Nazca]

That's a bit of a mouthful when you're trying to pronounce a long expression involving lots of them though

I like to talk.

 

[jak731]

'Log to base e' if i'm feeling pedantic but usually log, never use any other log these days.

 

[Dave]

One of my professors calls it "line", which annoys me

I call it "el-en" or log, I'd assume I mean ln if I say "log".

 

[Duff-Man]

I've always just said "log".

It's very rare for a mathematician like me to use any other kind of logarithm, so I would specify the base in those circumstances. Most of the people who've taught me or lectured at me over the years use this convention too.


To answer your question though:

Is there even a right answer?

The only 'correct' definitions are either "natural logarithm" or "logarithm to base e", but these are obviously too long to use in general. So beyond that you can pick and choose your abbreviations as you like. There is no standard convention, and as long as the person you're talking to understands what you mean it's somewhat irrelevant which you choose.

 

[AGD]

Lun or log are both ok - I've never heard a professor say el en though.

 

[Fusion]

I've always just said "log".

Yup. 90% of the time in my Physics course log with base e is used.

 

[ElvisFan]

I always pronounced it 'log en' when I was studying maths.

You and me both.

 

[georges]

log is what I use

Some use the El En.

Others say natural log.

 

[ArmyofHarmony]

LEN is how I say it, and thats how everyone should say it!

 

[ArmyofHarmony]

and its pronounced QUORK not Quark (how its spelt)

 

[Freefaller]

I just used to say "natural log" - saved any confusion when taking notes down.