AbstrakFakta terdapat kesulitan dalam mengerjakan soal-soal eksponen dan logaritma menjadi latar belakang penelitian ini. Tujuan penelitian yaitu melihat kesulitan siswa dalam mengerjakan soal-soal eksponen dan logaritma. Subyek penelitian adalah 33 siswa di SMK Baiturrahim Jambi yang mengerjakan 7 soal materi eksponen dan logaritma. Selanjutnya dipilih 6 siswa yang masing2 mendapat skor sedang dan rendah untuk diwawancarai terkait kesulitannya dalam menyelesaikan soal tersebut. Metode kualitatif menjadi metode yang digunakan dalam penelitian. Pengumpulan data penelitian melalui Teknik observasi, tes soal, dan wawancara. Teknik analisis data yang dilakukan antara lain reduksi data, pengumpulan data, dan penarikan kesimpulan. Hasil tes siswa menunjukkan bahwa kesalahan terbanyak terjadi pada tahap transformation, dan process skill. Wawancara kemudian dilakukan untuk menggali lebih dalam faktor yang mempengaruhi kesulitan siswa. Ketiga faktor tersebut yakni faktor pengalaman, efektif, dan kognitif. Faktor kognitif menjadi faktor yang paling berpengaruh. Faktor kognitif sangat bergantung pada pemahaman siswa terhadap materi pada soal eksponen dan logaritma. AbstractThe fact that there are difficulties in working on exponential and logarithmic problems is the background of this research. The research objective was to find out how difficult it was for students to solve exponential and logarithmic test items. The subjects used were 33 students of SMK Baiturrahim Jambi for doing the test, then 6 students were selected to be interviewed regarding their difficulties in solving those items. The research approach used in this analysis was qualitative. Observation, assessments, and interviews were used to gather data for this study. Data reduction, data collection, and conclusion drawing were the data analysis methods used. The results of the students' tests showed that most mistakes occurred in the transformation stage and process skills. Moreover, an interview was also conducted to know deeper into the factors that influenced students’ difficulties. These three factors were experiential, affective, and cognitive factors. The cognitive factor was the most influential factor. The cognitive factor really depended on students' understanding of the material on the exponent and logarithmic test.