Log table

Before the permitted use of scientific calculators for students sitting for their Cambridge GCE `O’ Level exams, the only mathematical instruments allowed into examination hall were the compass, protractor, divider, set-squares, writing instruments and the Cambridge Elementary Mathematical Tables. Before students enter into the examination hall, invigilators would be stationed at the doorway to check the pencil case of each student looking out for any non-permitted items except those mentioned above. The pages of the Logarithms Table booklet would be thoroughly flipped by the invigilators to ensure it does not contain any formulas nor any other forms of scribbled notes embedded within. Sometimes, an invigilator may randomly asked a student to remove the cap of the ball-point pen to check for any pieces of paper hidden inside.

^ The Cambridge Elementary Mathematical Tables which is about the size of half an A4 paper.

^ A page from the Log Table where you compute Common Logarithms, Logarithms of Sines, Cosines, Tangents, Hyperbolic Equations, Binomials. You can see that some of the numbers have been underlined. These were numbers which were frequently computed for logarithms sums.

Penalty for cheating? It can range from getting a big fat zero for that paper to being barred for the entire exam. Now, everything is just at the press of a button from the scientific calculator. Can you remember how to use the Log Table?