Re edit: Put a space between the * and the characters.<p><pre><code>  5 * N
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versus<p><pre><code>  5*N
</code></pre>
Pairs of asterisks adjacent to non-space characters become markers indicating italicized text.<p><pre><code>  5*N is easier to remember than 16*N
</code></pre>
5<i>N is easier to remember than 16</i>N<p>Versus<p><pre><code>  5 * N is easier to remember than 16 * N
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5 * N is easier to remember than 16 * N<p>And I think the word you want is exponential, not logarithmic. Related to each other, since exponential expressions become linear  on a logarithmic scale, but exponential describes the growth of 2^n better.