Do you mean brackets like ln(2x) or what??to put | | when using ln
the solutions in the Maths association of NSW 4U past paper book have the absolute value signs so im guessing they are required. my school never really bothered though.so if you have like
you have to say ln |x-1| ?
You will never get ln(-1) as your final answer. You might get something like ln(-1) - ln(-2), which combines to be ln(-1/-2) = ln(1/2), ie. the negative signs cancelling out after applying log laws...But I really don't think markers will deduct without them, unless of course it alters the actual solution which it rarely does unless your evaluation has like "ln(-1)", then you'd probably realise you need those abs values.