NAGA VIEW ADVENTIST COLLEGE, INC.

Panicuason, Naga City

LEARNING MODULE
General Mathematics MODULE 3

Exponential and
Logarithmic Functions
Lesson Objectives:

At the end of the lesson, the students are expected to:

• define Exponential functions;
• distinguish which among the given functions are exponential;
• graph exponential functions and describe their properties;
• determine and apply the processes on how to solve for the zeros of Exponential
functions;
• solves problems involving Exponential functions;
• define Logarithm;
• change exponentials to logarithmic form;
• enumerate and define the different properties of logarithms;
• transform expanded logarithm into single logarithm and vice-versa by applying the
different properties;
• evaluate logarithmic expressions by applying the different properties;
• solve for the roots/zeros of the given logarithmic equations/functions; and
• manifest the value of analytical and critical thinking, patience, determinations, and
honesty.
 Exponential Function Reference
This is the general Exponential Function (see below for ex):

f(x) = ax
a is any value greater than 0

Properties depend on value of "a"

• When a=1, the graph is a horizontal line at y=1

• Apart from that there are two cases to look at:

In General:

• It is always greater than 0, and never crosses the x-axis

• It always intersects the y-axis at y=1 ... in other words it passes
through (0,1)
• At x=1, f(x)=a ... in other words it passes through (1,a)
• It is an Injective (one-to-one) function
Inverse

So the Exponential Function can be "reversed" by the Logarithmic Function.

Working with Exponents and Logarithms

What is an Exponent?

The exponent of a number says how many

times
to use the number in a multiplication.

In this example: 23 = 2 × 2 × 2 = 8

(2 is used 3 times in a multiplication to get 8)

What is an Logarithm?
A Logarithm goes the other way.

It asks the question "what exponent produced this?":

And answers it like this:

In that example:

• The Exponent takes 2 and 3 and gives 8 (2, used 3 times in a

multiplication, makes 8)
• The Logarithm takes 2 and 8 and gives 3 (2 makes 8 when used 3 times
in a multiplication)
 So a logarithm actually gives you the exponent as its answer:

Working Together
Exponents and Logarithms work well together because they "undo" each other
(so long as the base "a" is the same):

They are "Inverse Functions"

Doing one, then the other, gets you back to where you started:

Doing ax then loga gives you x back again:

Doing loga then ax gives you x back again:

It is too bad they are written so differently ... it makes things look strange. So it
may help to think of ax as "up" and loga(x) as "down":

going up, then down, returns you back again:down(up(x)) = x

going down, then up, returns you back again:up(down(x)) = x

Anyway, the important thing is that:

 Applications of Exponential and Logarithmic
Functions in Real World

The best thing about exponential functions is that they are so useful in real world situations.
Exponential functions are used to model populations, carbon date artifacts, help coroners
determine time of death, compute investments, as well as many other applications.

We will discuss in this lesson three of the most common applications: population
growth, exponential decay, and compound interest.

1. Population
Many times scientists will start with a certain number of bacteria or animals and watch how
the population grows. For example, if the population doubles every 5 days, this can be
represented as an exponential function. Most population models involve using the number e.
To learn more about e, click here (link to exp-log-e and ln.doc)

Population models can occur two ways. One way is if we are given an exponential function.
The second way involves coming up with an exponential equation based on information
given. Let’s look at each of these separately.

Let's Practice:

i. The population of a city is P = 250,342e0.012t where t = 0 represents

the population in the year 2000.

a. Find the population of the city in the year 2010.

To find the population in the year 2010, we need to let t = 10 in our given equation.
P = 250,342e0.012(10) = 250,342e0.12 = 282,259.82
Since we are dealing with the population of a city, we normally round to a whole number, in
this case 282,260 people.

b. Find the population of the city in the year 2015.

To find the population in the year 2015, we need to let t = 15.

P = 250,342e0.012(15) = 250,342e0.18 = 299,713.8
We’ll round this answer to 299,714 people.

Summary: Before we do the next example, let’s look at a general form

for population models. Most of the time, we start with an equation that looks like
P = Poekt

§ P represents the population after a certain amount of time

§ Po represents the initial population or the population at the beginning
§ k represents the growth (or decay) rate
§ t represents the amount of time
§ Remember that e is not a variable, it has a numeric value. We do not replace it with
information given to us in the problem.
2. Exponential Decay
Solving an exponential decay problem is very similar to working with population growth. In
fact, certain populations may decrease instead of increase and we could still use the general
formula we used for growth. But in the case of decrease or decay, the value of k will be
negative.

Let's Practice:

iii. The number of milligrams of a drug in a persons system after t hours is given by
the function D = 20e-0.4t.

a. Find the amount of the drug after 2 hours.

To solve the problem we let t = 2 in the original equation.

D = 20e-0.4(2) = 20e-0.8 = 8.987
After 2 hours, 8.987 milligrams of the drug are left in the system.

b. Find the amount of the drug after 5 hours.

Replace t with 5 in the equation to get

D = 20e-0.4(5) = 20e-2.0 = 2.707
After 5 hours, 2.707 milligrams remain in the body.

c. When will the amount of the drug be 0.1 milligram (or almost completely gone from
the system)?

We need to let D = 0.1 and solve the equation 0.1 = 20e-0.4t

After approximately 13 hours and 15 minutes, the amount of the drug will be almost gone
with only 0.1 milligrams remaining in the body.
3. Compound Interest

The formula for interest that is compounded is

§ A represents the amount of money after a certain amount of time

§ P represents the principle or the amount of money you start with
§ r represents the interest rate and is always represented as a decimal
§ n is the number of times interest is compounded in one year

if interest is compounded annually then n = 1

if interest is compounded quarterly then n = 4
if interest is compounded monthly then n = 12

§ t represents the amount of time in years

Let's Practice:

iv. Suppose your parents invest $1000 in a savings account for college at the time you
are born. The average interest rate is 4% and is compounded quarterly. How much
money will be in the college account when you are 18 years old?

We will use our formula and let P = 1000, r = 0.04, n = 4 and t =

18.

v. Suppose your parents had invested that same $1000 in a money market account
that averages 8% interest compounded monthly. How much would you have for
college after 18 years?

P = 1000, r = 0.08, n = 12 and t = 18

Here are some uses for Logarithms in the real world:

Earthquakes

The magnitude of an earthquake is a Logarithmic scale.

The famous "Richter Scale" uses this formula:

M = log10 A + B
Where A is the amplitude (in mm) measured by the Seismograph
and B is a distance correction factor

Nowadays there are more complicated formulas, but they still use a logarithmic
scale.

Sound

Loudness is measured in Decibels (dB for short):

Loudness in dB = 10 log10 (p × 1012)

where p is the sound pressure.

Acidic or Alkaline

Acidity (or Alkalinity) is measured in pH:

pH = −log10 [H+]
where H+ is the molar concentration of dissolved hydrogen ions.
Note: in chemistry [ ] means molar concentration (moles per liter).
References:
DepEd MELC

Marcelo, Gladys Glo H. 2009. Basic Calculus, Quezon City: Rex Bookstore, pp. 117 – 143.

https://www.mathsisfun.com/sets/function-exponential.html

https://www.mathsisfun.com/algebra/exponents-logarithms.html

http://www.algebralab.org/lessons/lesson.aspx?file=Algebra_ExponentsApps.xml