Managerial Mathematics: : SQQM1023

4.1: INTRODUCTION TO EXPONENTIAL FUNCTION

An exponential function involves a constant (base) raised to a variable power

(exponent) x, t and so on.

DEFINITION 4.1.1(a): Exponential function with base a

The function f is defined by

y  f x  a x
where a  0 , a  1 and the exsponent x is any real number is called an
exponential function with base a.

TAKRIF 4.1.1(b): Exponential function with base e (2.71828...)

The function f is defined by

y  f x  e x
where e  2.71828..., and the exponent x is any real numbers is called an
exponential function with base e. or natural exponential function.

Example 1
Determine whether the given functions are an exponential function or not. If it is, then
determine the base for each function.

a) y  2x b) g t   3t c) y  t 3t

d) y  11x / 3 e) y  e0.05x f) hx   0.5

1.2 x

g) g ( x)  2.7186 x
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4.1.2 SKETCHING AN EXPONENTIAL GRAPH.

Let say y  a x and a  1 for    x   . Therefore the graph for y  a x can

be sketch by replacing several values for x.

a) If a  2 . Then the exponential function would be y  2 x

Build a table with several values of x, and find the corresponding values for y:

x -2 -1 0 1 2

y  2x

Based on the table, we got several points that resides on the graph.
Therefore, we just plot all the points and draw a curve that connects all those
points.

4.5
4
3.5
3
2.5
2
1.5
1
0.5
0
-3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3

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x
1 1
b) Now let say a  . The exponential function would be y   
2 2

Try to sketch the graph for this function.

i. Build a table:
x -2 -1 0 1 2
x
1
y  
2

ii. Based on the table, plot all of the points and draw a curve:

4.5
4
3.5
3
2.5
2
1.5
1
0.5
0
-3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3

c) If the exponential function has the base e. Where y   x , therefore

Build a table:
x -2 -1 0 1 2
y  ex

Therefore the graph would be:

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0
-3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3

d) For the exponential function y   x

x -2 -1 0 1 2
y  e x
And the graph would be:

0
-3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3

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4.1.3 PROPERTIES OF EXPONENTIAL FUNCTIONS

If a and b is any positive real numbers   and x, y is any rational number, therefore

x y ax
Property 1: a
x y
a a Property 2:  a x y
ay
Example 2: Example 3:
Simplify Simplify

 7 3x 
a) 32x . 34 = a)  5  
7 
b) 5-x . 5x = b) 3 2x+2 =
3 x-1

k2
3
2
c)  
3p
2
  
r

c) 9

5 5 3

Property 3: a  x y
 a xy Property 4: ab x  a xb x
Simplify Simplify
Example 4: Example 5:

a) 5  3x 3
 a) 45t 

b) 2  
2 x 3 x
 b) 7 3
x y


x
a ax
a x 
1
Property 5:    x Property 6:
b b ax
Simplify Simplify
Example 6 : Example 7:
5t
3
a)   
-(x+1)
a) 5 =
2
y
2
b)  x  
-1.2
b) 2.5 =
9 

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y
Property 7: ax / y  ax Property 8: a0  1
Exercise 8: Simplify Exercise 9: Simplify

a) 9 3/2 = a) -20 =
b) 6.5 ½ = b) 23450 =
c) 12 -2/3 = c) e 0 =

Property 9: a1  a
Contoh 9:
a) 161 =

b) 2.7181 =

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4.2 EXPONENTIAL FUCTION vs LOGARITHMIC FUNCTION

The exponential functions describe a value that is obtained by raising a constant to

the power of a variable/unknown.

For example: y = 2x,

When the input x = 3 , therefore the output  y = 23 = 8

Here, the variable y is a dependant variable (output), meanwhile x is an independant

variable(input).

Alternatively, the above equation can be switch by making x as thedependant

variable (output) and y as the independant variable (input).
This equation is known as the logarithmic function.

Therefore, the above equation; y = 2x can be change into a logartihmic equation;

x = log 2 y

Here, if the input y=8 therefore, output x = log 2 8 (2 to the power of what (x)
equal to 8) --> therefore; x = 3

CONCLUSION:
EXPONENT LOGARITHMIC
Can be written as
x
y=a x = log a y
where a > 0 and a ≠ 1 where a > 0 and a ≠ 1

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Example 11: Rewrite the following equations in a logarithmic form.

a) 49 = 72 b) 25 = 32

c) y = 7x d) 0.5 -3q = p

e) 42a = b

Example 12: Rewrite the following equations in an exponential form.

a) 1 = log 27 3 b) log 2 32 = 5
3

b) log a 4 = b d) log 4 64 = p

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4.3 INTRODUCTION TO LOGARITHMIC FUNCTION

The logarithmic function with base a, where a>0 and a ≠ 1is denoted by loga and
defined by;

x = log a y
If and only if ax = y.
For example:

i) y  log 2 x (if a = 2)

ii) y  log 5 x (if a = 5)

DEFINITION 4.3.1(a): Logarithmic Function with base 10

Logarithms to the base 10 are called common logarithms . The subscript 10 is usually
omitted from the notation. For example:

i) y  log10 x can be written as y  log x .

ii) However, y  log 3 x cannot be written as y  log x

DEFINITION 4.3.2(b): Logarithmic Function with base e

Logarithms to the base e. are called natural logarithms. We use notation “ln” for such
logarithms. For example:

i) y  ln x means y  log e x

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4.3.3 SKETCHING A LOGARITHMIC GRAPH

Let say a logarithmic function y  log x and x  0 . Therefire the graph for this
function can be sketch by:
Form a table:
x 0.5 2 4 6 8 10
y  log x -0.3010 0.3010 0.6021 0.7781 0.9031 1

Sketch the graph:

1.2

0.8

0.6

0.4

0.2

0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12
-0.2

-0.4

Example 13:
Fill in the blanks and then sketch the graph for y = ln (4x+1)
x 0.5 1 2 3 4
ln (4x + 1)

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4.3.4 PROPERTIES OF LOGARITHMIC FUNCTION

PROPERTY 1: log b MN   log b M  log b N

a) log 10 (xy) =

b) log 5 (ab2) =

c) log e

M 
PROPERTY 2 : log b    log b M  log b N
N 

a) log 10 (a/b)=

5
b)
log1/ 2 
x

2x 1
c)
ln
3 =

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PROPERTY 3 : log b M r  r log b M

a) log 2 4t =

q 1
b) ln p 

 1 
PROPERTY 4 : logb     logb M
M 
 1 
a) log10  
 2.5 

1
b) ln   
 

PROPERTY 5 :  
log b 1  log b b 0  0

a) log3 1 

b) ln1 

c) log 1 

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PROPERTY 6: log b b  1
a) log 3 9 
1
b) log 0.5 
2
c) ln e 

PROPERTY 7: log b b r  r
2
a) log 3 9 

b) ln e

PROPERTY 8 : blogb M  M
a) 7log7 x 
b) eln(2 x 1) 

log M ln M
PROPERTY 9 :
log b M  atau
log b ln b

a) log3 45 

b) log e 

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4.4 Solving an exponential equation

Steps:
1. Rewrite the exponential equation in a form of logarithmic equation. (or simply put
“log” on both side of the equation)
2. Used the logarithmic properties to solve the equation.
3.
Example 14 Solve the following expopnential equations:

a) 2x  8

b) 3 x  27

c) 25 x  5

d) 163 x  2

e) 94 x  3

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Example 15:
Solve the following equation to find the value of x;
a) 36 x  2(32x )

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b) 16 x  (52x )
5

c) 43x  8x

d) 49 x  7 x 1

Example 16:

a) 3 x2
 94 x  0

b) 2 x2
 82  4 x  0

c) 5 x2
 25 x  2  0

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4.5 Solving a logarithmic equation

Steps:
1. Rewrite the logarithmic equation in a form of exponential equation.
2. Solve the equation using the exponential properties.

Example 17:
Find the value for x that satisfy the following equations:

a) log 3 x  3

b) ln 3  x

c) 4 x  2

d) log 4 x  3

e) ln 2 x  5

f) log3x  1  log x  3  2

g) log 2 2 x  3  2  log 2  x  1

h) ln x 4  ln x  24 ln 

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4.6 APPLICATIONS OF EXPONENTIAL AND LOGARITHMIC FUNCTION

5.5.1 FINANCE

Assume that we invest a certain amount of money RM P, for t years.

The investment earned r% of interest which is compounded m times
a year. Therefore, the total amount of the investment (S) after t years
can be calculate using the formula:

Where;

S Value of the investment after t years (together with the interest) –

Compound amount.

P Initial amount that was invested – Principal amount

r interest rate
m number of conversion
t investment period (number of years)

For m (number of conversion):

 Annually = once a year  m = 1
 Semiannually = twice a year  m = 2
 Quarterly = 4 times a year  m = 4
 Monthly = 12 times a year  m = 12

Meanwhile, the amount of interest received (compound interset, Im) is obtain

by:

Im  S  P

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Example 18:
Find the value of an investment, S and the compound interest earned, Im
for the principal investment amount of RM 1000 with 6% of interest a year :

a) For investment period of 10 years and the interest is compounded

semiannually.

b) For investment period of 10 years and the interest is compounded quarterly.

Example 19:

Suppose RM 5000 is invested at the rate of 9% compounded annually. Find the

value of the investment after 5 years.

Contoh 20:

Based on your answer in example 19, what is the value of the investment if the
interest is compounded three times a year .

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4.7 OTHER APPLICATIONS

a) Population Growth:

Suppose that the population of a town at a certain period of time is P0

and it is increasing at the rate of r% per year. Therefore the population
of the town after t years is given by:

rt
P = Poe
Where P = Amount of Population after t years
Po = Initial population
r = rate of population growth
t = period of times

Contoh 21:

The projected population Pt  for a small town is given by:

Pt   100000e0.05t
with t is the number of year/s after 1980.

i) What is the value for t if the population is predicted for the year 2002

ii) Using your answer in (i), what is the predicted population for 2002.

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Example 22:

The population for Smallville at 1995 are 100 000. After 10 years, the population
has grown to 150 000. What is the rate of the population growth for Smallville?

Example 23
(Radioactive Decay)
A radioactive element decays such that after t days the number of miligrams

0.062t
present is given by: N  100e .
i) How many miligrams are initially present?

ii) How many miligrams are present after 10 days?

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