How to Calculate Natural Logarithm in Excel (4 Methods)

What Is a Natural Logarithm?

A natural logarithm is the logarithm of a number to the base of e. e is a constant number which is approximately 2.7128. It is a transcendental and irrational number. It is normally expressed as lnx or log_e x. You can find the natural logarithm of positive numbers only.

The LN Function in Excel

The LN function returns the natural logarithm of a number in Excel. It has one argument only—number.

Note: Zero or negative numbers will result in #NUM! error and non-numeric values in the #VALUE! error.

Read More: How to Calculate Log in Excel

Suppose you have the following dataset.

Method 1 – Calculating the Natural Logarithm of a Positive Integer Number

Steps:

• Click on the cell where you want the result.
• Enter the following formula.

• Press Enter.

• Use the Autofill Tool to copy the formula to the remaining cells in the column.

The results should look like this.

Read More: How to Log Transform Data in Excel 

Method 2 – Calculating the Natural Logarithm of a Fractional Number

Steps:

• Click on the cell where you want the result.
• Enter the following formula.

• Press Enter.

• Use the Autofill Tool to copy the formula to the remaining cells in the column.

The results should look like this.

Read More: How to Calculate Antilog in Excel

Method 3 – Obtaining the Natural Logarithm of a Negative Number in Excel

Steps:

• Click on the cell where you want the result.
• Enter the following formula.

• Press Enter.

• Use the Autofill Tool to copy the formula to the remaining cells in the column.

The results should look like this.

Read More: How to Do Inverse Log in Excel 

Method 4 – Calculating the Natural Logarithm of Zero

Steps:

• Click on the cell where you want the result.
• Enter the following formula.

• Press Enter.

• Use the Autofill Tool to copy the formula to the remaining cells in the column.

The results should look like this.

Read More:  How to Calculate Log Base 2 in Excel 

Things to Remember

• The LN function is the inverse of the EXP function.
• The LOG function returns a logarithm of a number to any base, and the LOG10 function returns the logarithm of a number to the base 10.

Download Practice Workbook

Here, you can download and practice from our practice workbook for free.

Related Articles

• How to Take Log of Negative Numbers in Excel
• How to Calculate Logarithmic Growth in Excel
  
• How to Plot Log Scale in Excel
• How to Plot Log Log Graph in Excel 
• Excel Logarithmic Scale Start at 0 

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