a logarithm
A logarithm is like a math wizard that turns big numbers into small ones. It helps you figure out how many times a number has to be multiplied by itself to get another number. It’s used in math, like when you graph how many people die from a virus.
'I graphed the log of deaths and it looked like a nice curve.'
'The log of 1000 is 3 because 10 x 10 x 10 = 1000.'
'Logs help when numbers get too big and you want to see the trend.'