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Graphs of Exponential Functions

In this exercise, we will explore exponential functions and their properties. First, we need a definition of exponential functions. Definition An exponential function is a function

Now, lets consider the graph In order to create the graph, we will use a table of values.
f ( x) = 2 x

y
f(x)

x -5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5 Question 3:

Question 1: Why can the relation defined by the above equation be classified as a function?

Question 2: Given the graph, what are the domain and range of x the function f ( x ) = b for any real number, b > 1 ? Domain: _______________ Range: _______________ What is the x-intercept? ____________ What is the y-intercept? ____________

Notice that the y-values approach ______ but do not ever reach _______ How did we indicate this in our statement of the range?

The line ____________ is, therefore, called an _______________.

That is, an _______________ is ________________________________________________.

In order to better understand the transformations of an exponential, consider the algebra. Complete the following table of values for
f ( x) = 2 x f ( x ) = 2 x +1 f ( x) = 2 x 3

x Graph all 3 functions on the graph to the right -3 by plotting the points you found above. -2 -1 0 1 2 3

f(x)

y
Describe what happened

What does a negative do???


f ( x) = 2 x f ( x) = x 2 f ( x) = 2 x

x Describe what happened from the function f ( x ) = 2

f ( x) = x 2

f ( x) =2 x

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