Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2012/ia/paper-4/7d/iv/solution

If were a rational number, choose positive integers because . Exponentiation gives , but the left side is even and the right side is odd. Thus
This is the basic irrational logarithm criterion: a rational logarithm would force positive integer powers of its base and argument to coincide.

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