Chapter 6 Exponential Functions (指數函數)

Tutorial Class (常規課堂)

by David Cheung

2015 – 2016

Learning Objectives

6.1. Understand the laws of rational indices

6.2. Solve equations by the laws of indices

6.3. Understand the graphs of exponential functions

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 DSE Mathematics (Core)
Chapter 6
Exponential Functions

6.1. Understand the laws of rational indices

6.1.1. (Definition) Let 𝑚𝑚 and 𝑛𝑛 be any rational numbers, 𝑎𝑎 and 𝑏𝑏 be any positive integers. The laws of
rational indices are as follows:

(1) 𝑎𝑎𝑚𝑚 ∙ 𝑎𝑎𝑛𝑛 = 𝑎𝑎𝑚𝑚+𝑛𝑛 e.g. 𝑎𝑎4 ∙ 𝑎𝑎2 = 𝑎𝑎6

𝑎𝑎𝑚𝑚 𝑎𝑎3 3
(2) = 𝑎𝑎𝑚𝑚−𝑛𝑛 e.g. 3 = 𝑎𝑎2
𝑎𝑎𝑛𝑛
𝑎𝑎2
1
(3) (𝑎𝑎𝑚𝑚 )𝑛𝑛 = 𝑎𝑎𝑚𝑚∙𝑛𝑛 e.g. (𝑎𝑎6 )2 = 𝑎𝑎3

(4) (𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎)𝑚𝑚 = 𝑎𝑎𝑚𝑚 𝑏𝑏 𝑚𝑚 e.g. (𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎)2 = 𝑎𝑎2 𝑏𝑏 2

𝑎𝑎 𝑎𝑎𝑚𝑚 𝑎𝑎 𝑎𝑎3
(5) ( )𝑚𝑚 = e.g. ( )3 =
𝑏𝑏 𝑏𝑏𝑚𝑚 𝑏𝑏 𝑏𝑏3

(6) 𝑎𝑎0 = 1

1 1 1
(7) 𝑎𝑎−𝑚𝑚 = or = 𝑎𝑎𝑚𝑚 e.g. 𝑎𝑎−3 =
𝑎𝑎𝑚𝑚 𝑎𝑎−𝑚𝑚 𝑎𝑎3
1
(8) √𝑎𝑎 = 𝑎𝑎2
𝑚𝑚 5
𝑛𝑛 4
(9) √𝑎𝑎𝑚𝑚 = 𝑎𝑎 𝑛𝑛 e.g. √𝑎𝑎5 = 𝑎𝑎4

(Reminder!) You must remember the above laws of rational indices because there will be at least 1 related
question in both paper I and paper II.

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 DSE Mathematics (Core)
Chapter 6
Exponential Functions

6.1.2.

Example: Let 𝑚𝑚 and 𝑛𝑛 be any positive integers. Simplify the following expressions and express your
answer with positive indices.

𝑚𝑚−15 𝑛𝑛4 𝑚𝑚4 𝑛𝑛23

(a) (b)
(𝑛𝑛2 )−3 (𝑚𝑚2 𝑛𝑛7 )3

1
1 −1 3 −
4
(𝑚𝑚−2 )6 𝑛𝑛3 𝑚𝑚−1 𝑛𝑛2
(c) � 𝑛𝑛2
� (d) �𝑚𝑚−3𝑛𝑛2 �

(D.C.’s comments) This is a very typical question in the examination.

Solution:

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 DSE Mathematics (Core)
Chapter 6
Exponential Functions

6.1.3.

Example: Let 𝑎𝑎 and 𝑏𝑏 be any positive integers. Simplify the following expressions and express your
answer with positive indices.
3 3
√𝑎𝑎4 𝑏𝑏2 𝑎𝑎 √𝑎𝑎𝑏𝑏2
(a) (b) 1
(𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎)2
(𝑎𝑎2 𝑏𝑏−1 )2

3
(c) �𝑎𝑎2 �𝑎𝑎3 √𝑎𝑎4 (d) �4𝑎𝑎2 √256𝑎𝑎−4

(D.C.’s comments) This is a harder question related to the laws of rational indices

Solution:

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 DSE Mathematics (Core)
Chapter 6
Exponential Functions

6.2. Solve equations by the laws of indices

6.2.1. Solve equations with rational indices.

Example: Given that 𝑥𝑥 is a rational number. Solve the following equations.

4
(a) 𝑥𝑥 3 = 81

1
(b) 2 =4
𝑥𝑥 5

(D.C.’s comments) Method: Let 𝑝𝑝 be a rational number. Exponentiate both sides by 𝑝𝑝 such that the index
of 𝑥𝑥 become 1.

Solution:

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 DSE Mathematics (Core)
Chapter 6
Exponential Functions

6.2.2. Solve equations with unknown indices. (Single term)

Example: Given that 𝑥𝑥 is a rational number. Solve the following equations.

(a) 32𝑥𝑥−1 ∙ 42𝑥𝑥 = 256

(b) 27𝑥𝑥+1 = 3 ∙ (92𝑥𝑥−5 )

(D.C.’s comments) Method: Express both sides with the same base.

Solution:

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 DSE Mathematics (Core)
Chapter 6
Exponential Functions

6.2.3. Solve equations with unknown indices. (Multiple terms)

Example: Given that 𝑥𝑥 is a rational number. Solve the following equations.

(a) 5𝑥𝑥 + 5𝑥𝑥+1 + 5𝑥𝑥+2 = 155

(b) 3𝑥𝑥+1 + 3𝑥𝑥−1 = 72

(D.C.’s comments) Method: Express both sides with the same base and the same indices.

Solution:

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 DSE Mathematics (Core)
Chapter 6
Exponential Functions

6.2.4. Solve simultaneous exponential equations.

𝑥𝑥−3𝑦𝑦
Example: Given that 𝑥𝑥 and 𝑦𝑦 are rational numbers. Solve � 25
𝑦𝑦−2𝑥𝑥
= 125 .
7 = 493𝑥𝑥+𝑦𝑦

(D.C.’s comments) Use the same technique as in 6.2.2. to find two equations connecting 𝑥𝑥 and 𝑦𝑦.

Solution:

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 DSE Mathematics (Core)
Chapter 6
Exponential Functions

6.3. Understand the graphs of exponential functions

6.3.1. (Definition) Let 𝑎𝑎 and 𝑘𝑘 be constants, 𝑎𝑎 > 0, 𝑎𝑎 ≠ 1 and 𝑘𝑘 ≠ 0. Given that 𝑦𝑦 is a function of 𝑥𝑥. An
exponential function is defined as 𝑦𝑦 = 𝑘𝑘𝑎𝑎 𝑥𝑥 .

Examples of exponential functions are:

 𝑦𝑦 = 2𝑥𝑥
 𝑦𝑦 = −3(4𝑥𝑥 )
1 𝑥𝑥
 𝑦𝑦 = −2 ( )
3

In this section, we are interested in the graphs of exponential functions, more specifically 𝑦𝑦 = 𝑎𝑎 𝑥𝑥
(i.e. 𝑘𝑘 = 1)

(Reminder!) In the examination, questions related to the graph of exponential functions mainly focus on
𝑦𝑦 = 𝑎𝑎 𝑥𝑥 (i.e. 𝑘𝑘 = 1). Questions related to the graphs of exponential functions with 𝑘𝑘 ≠ 1
rarely appears.

6.3.2. Below are the two examples of the graph of exponential functions 𝑦𝑦 = 𝑎𝑎 𝑥𝑥 .

1 𝑥𝑥
(a) 𝑦𝑦 = 2𝑥𝑥 (b) 𝑦𝑦 = ( )
2
𝑦𝑦 𝑦𝑦

𝑦𝑦 = 2 𝑥𝑥 1
𝑦𝑦 = ( )𝑥𝑥
1 1 2

𝑥𝑥 𝑥𝑥
𝑜𝑜 𝑜𝑜
Figure 1 Figure 2

 If 𝑎𝑎 > 1, the graph slopes upwards from left to right because the value of 𝑎𝑎 𝑥𝑥 increases with 𝑥𝑥
(Refer to Figure 1). The flatter the graph, the smaller the value of 𝑎𝑎 (Refer to Figure 3).
 If 0 < 𝑎𝑎 < 1, the graph slopes downwards from left to right because the value of 𝑎𝑎 𝑥𝑥 decreases
with 𝑥𝑥. (Refer to Figure 2) The flatter the graph, the larger the value of 𝑎𝑎 (Refer to Figure 4).
 The graph of 𝑦𝑦 = 𝑎𝑎 𝑥𝑥 always lies above the 𝑥𝑥 − 𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎.
 The 𝑦𝑦 − 𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 of the graph 𝑦𝑦 = 𝑎𝑎 𝑥𝑥 must be 1.

For 𝑏𝑏 > 𝑎𝑎 > 1 For 0 < 𝑑𝑑 < 𝑐𝑐 < 1

𝑦𝑦 = 𝑏𝑏 𝑥𝑥 𝑦𝑦 = 𝑑𝑑 𝑥𝑥
𝑦𝑦 𝑦𝑦

𝑦𝑦 = 𝑎𝑎 𝑥𝑥

1 𝑦𝑦 = 𝑐𝑐 𝑥𝑥 1

𝑥𝑥 𝑥𝑥
𝑜𝑜 𝑜𝑜
Figure 3 Figure 4

(Reminder!) You must remember the above properties of exponential functions

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 DSE Mathematics (Core)
Chapter 6
Exponential Functions

6.3.3.

Example: Let 𝑎𝑎, 𝑏𝑏 and 𝑘𝑘 be positive integers. Figure 5 shows the graph of 𝑦𝑦 = 𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘 𝑥𝑥 + 𝑏𝑏. Which of the
following must be true?

𝑦𝑦

𝑦𝑦 = 𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘 𝑥𝑥 + 𝑏𝑏

𝑥𝑥
𝑜𝑜
Figure 5

(A) 𝑎𝑎 > 1 and the 𝑦𝑦 − 𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 is 𝑏𝑏

(B) 𝑎𝑎 > 1 and the 𝑦𝑦 − 𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 is 𝑘𝑘 + 𝑏𝑏
(C) 0 < 𝑎𝑎 < 1 and the 𝑦𝑦 − 𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 is 𝑏𝑏
(D) 0 < 𝑎𝑎 < 1 and the 𝑦𝑦 − 𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 is 𝑘𝑘 + 𝑏𝑏

(D.C.’s comments) This question is modified from HKCEE 2010 Paper II Q.38.

Solution:

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 DSE Mathematics (Core)
Chapter 6
Exponential Functions

6.3.4.

Example: Let 𝑎𝑎, 𝑏𝑏 and 𝑐𝑐 be positive integer. Figure 6 shows three graphs, 𝑦𝑦 = 𝑎𝑎 𝑥𝑥 , 𝑦𝑦 = 𝑏𝑏 𝑥𝑥 and 𝑦𝑦 = 𝑐𝑐 𝑥𝑥 .
Which of the following must be true?

𝑦𝑦
𝑦𝑦 = 𝑏𝑏 𝑥𝑥

𝑦𝑦 = 𝑎𝑎 𝑥𝑥 𝑦𝑦 = 𝑐𝑐 𝑥𝑥

𝑥𝑥
𝑜𝑜

(A) b>c>a>0
(B) b>c>a>1
(C) a>c>b>0
(D) a>b>c>0

(D.C.’s comments) This question is modified from HKCEE 2008 Paper II Q.38.

Solution:

End of Chapter 6

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