LESSON 17 - EXPONENTIAL FUNCTIONs

An exponential function is a function that contains a variable exponent. For example, f (x) = 2x and g(x) =
5ƒ3x are exponential functions. We can graph exponential functions. Here is the graph of f (x) = 2x :

Figure %: f (x) = 2x
The graph has a horizontal asymptote at y = 0 , because 2x > 0 for all x . It passes through the point (0, 1) .

We can translate this graph. For example, we can shift the graph down 3 units and left 5 units. Here is the
graph of f (x) = 2x+5 - 3 :

Figure %: f (x) = 2x+5 - 3

This graph has a horizontal asymptote at y = - 3 and passes through the point (- 5, - 2) .

We can stretch and shrink the graph vertically by multiplying the output by a constant--see Stretches. For
example, f (x) = 3ƒ2x is stretched vertically by a factor of 3:
 Figure %: f (x) = 3ƒ2x
This graph has a horizontal asymptote at y = 0 and passes through the point (0, 3) .

We can also graph exponential functions with other bases, such as f (x) = 3x and f (x) = 4x . We can think of
these graphs as differing from the graph of f (x) = 2x by a horizontal stretch or shrink: when we multiply the
input of f (x) = 2x by 2, we get f (x) = 22x = (22)x = 4x . Thus, the graph of f (x) = 4x is shrunk horizontally by a
factor of 2 from f (x) = 2x :

Figure %: f (x) = 4x
This graph has a horizontal asymptote at y = 0 and passes through the point (0, 1) .

The graph of f (x) = a x does not always differ from f (x) = 2x by a rational factor. Thus, it is useful to think of
each base individually, and to think of a different base as a horizontal stretch for comparison purposes only.

The graph of an exponential function can also be reflected over the x -axis or the y -axis, and rotated around
the origin, as in Heading .

The general form of an exponential function is f (x) = cƒa x-h + k , where a is a positive constant and a≠1 . a is
called the base. The graph has a horizontal asymptote of y = k and passes through the point (h, c + k) .

The domain of f (x) is and the range of f (x) is .

QUESTION/ANSWER SESSION:-

Q. If f (x) = 4ƒ3 x-1

+ 2 , evaluate the following:
a) f (0)
b) f (2)
c) f (5)
d) f (- 2)

Ans. a)
b) 14
c) 326

d)

Q. If f (x) = 2ƒ5 x-2

- 1 , and f (c) = 249 , what is c ?

Ans. c = 5