Sentence "A logarithm is ... algebra as exponent"

[nessie]

Hi,

Please help me with this question (I haven't got the slightest idea )

A logarithm is ___ algebra as exponent

a. known what
b. known what it is
c. what is know
d. what it is known

=> None of them make any sense to me.

Many thanks in advance.
Nessie
_________________
... something we never have again, I know... I guess I really really know..

Sorry seems to be the hardest word...

[lost_soul]

My "pick":

A logarithm is what is known in algebra as exponent

are you sure you didn't leave out "in" in option C ?

[nessie]

That's what confuses me, Alex. My friend sent this question to me and I think it's quite odd. I also suspect there must be something missing or misquoted here. Anyway, I'm just an intermediate learner so I'm not sure what I think is correct.

Suppose we need ideas of a native speaker

[Yankee]

Hi Nessie

I agree with Alex.

None of the options work, and the only other thing that I would add is that two words seem to be missing from the sentence:

A logarithm is what is known in algebra as an exponent.
.
_________________
Amy
.
ESL teacher, translator, and a native speaker of American English

[nessie]

Hi Amy, can we say this:

A logarithm is what know in algebra as an exponent (without the second "is")
I think it is the reduced form of this:
A logarithm is what that/which is known in algebra as an exponent.

Thanks a lot.
Nessie

[Yankee]

[nessie]

Why, Amy?

I think these are the same:

- The story which/that was told by her wasn't true.
- The story told by her wasn't true. (reduced form)

[Yankee]

Hi Nessie

First let me ask you to tell me what these mean, and whether you think they can ever be used:
- "it is what know"
- "what is know"

_________________
Amy
.
ESL teacher, translator, and a native speaker of American English

[nessie]

Oh God!
How silly I was not to realise that typo (+_+)
I'm terribly sorry, Amy, I certainly meant "what known as":

A logarithm is what known in algebra as an exponent
(I think it is the reduced form of "A logarithm is what that/which is known in algebra as an exponent")

Many thanks and terribly sorry once again.
Nessie.

[Yankee]

Hi Nessie

No, that still doesn't work.
Your examples do not reflect the same sentence structure, and they do not use the word 'what'.

[ilansamson]

Once and for all: confronting school kids with the three terms 'power' 'exponent' and 'logarithm' without pointing out that they all essentially mean the same thing amounts to child abuse!

So is the duplicity of the usage of 'power':
Consider 2^3 = 8 ( ^ - 'to the power of'):
You are told that "eight is the two to the power of three" i.e. 'three' being the power. Than you are told that "eight is a power of two" i.e. the 'eight' being the 'power'

This kind of disregard is one of the causes of Maths being wrongly conceived as 'more difficult' than other subjects.

The book "Demathtifying - Demystifying Mathematics" shows systematically how these unnecessary obstacles can be easily circumvented.