Write the characteristic of each of the following

log 0.2798

Characteristic: In a scientific number, the power of 10 determines the characteristic.

Let N = 0.2798

Divide N by 10⁴ to remove decimal, we get

Multiply and Divide N by 1000, we get

Thus, scientific notation 0.2798 = 2.798 × 10^–1

Consider,

log 0.2798 = log (2.798 × 10^–1 )

= log 2.798 + log 10^–1

(since, log (a×b) = log a + log b)

= log 2.798 + (–1)

(since, log 10ⁿ = n)

Thus characteristic of log 0.2798 is –1