Cambridge High School W 11 # 4

Exponential Functions

Name: ………………………………… Grade/Section: 11 IB Date: …./5 /2020

Teachers' Names: Mohammed Al-Shawakri , Rana Yassin Subject: Applications &
Interpretation

1. Consider the function f(x) = 1.25 – a–x, where a is a positive constant and x ≥ 0.
The diagram shows a sketch of the graph of f. The graph intersects the y-axis at point A and the line L is
its horizontal asymptote.

(a) Find the y-coordinate of A.

(2)

The point (2, 1) lies on the graph of y = f(x)

(b) Calculate the value of a.

(2)

(c) Write down the equation of L.

(2)
(Total 6 marks)

2. Shiyun bought a car in 1999. The value of the car V, in USD, is depreciating according to the exponential
model

V = 25 000 × 1.5–0.2t, t ≥ 0,

where t is the time, in years, that Shiyun has owned the car.

(a) Write down the value of the car when Shiyun bought it.
(1)

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 (b) Calculate the value of the car three years after Shiyun bought it. Give your answer correct to two
decimal places.
(2)

(c) Calculate the time for the car to depreciate to half of its value since Shiyun bought it.
(3)
(Total 6 marks)

3. The function f(x) = 5 – 3(2–x) is defined for x ≥ 0.

(a) (i) On the axes below sketch the graph of f(x) and show the behaviour of the curve as x
increases.

(ii) Write down the coordinates of any intercepts with the axes.

(4)

(b) Draw the line y = 5 on your sketch.

(1)

(c) Write down the number of solutions to the equation f(x) = 5.

(1)
(Total 6 marks)

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4. A rumour spreads through a group of teenagers according to the exponential model

N = 2 × (1.81)0.7t

where N is the number of teenagers who have heard the rumour t hours after it is first started.

(a) Find the number of teenagers who started the rumour.

(2)

(b) Write down the number of teenagers who have heard the rumour five hours after it is first started.
(1)

(c) Determine the length of time it would take for 150 teenagers to have heard the rumour. Give your
answer correct to the nearest minute.
(3)
(Total 6 marks)

5. Consider the function f(x) = p(0.5)x + q where p and q are constants. The graph of f(x) passes through the
points (0, 6) and (1, 4) and is shown below.

(a) Write down two equations relating p and q.

(2)

(b) Find the value of p and of q.

(2)

(c) Write down the equation of the horizontal asymptote to the graph of f(x).
(2)
(Total 6 marks)

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6. The number of cells, C, in a culture is given by the equation C = p × 20.5t + q, where t is the time in hours
measured from 12:00 on Monday and p and q are constants.

The number of cells in the culture at 12:00 on Monday is 47.

The number of cells in the culture at 16:00 on Monday is 53.

Use the above information to

(a) write down two equations in p and q;

(2)

(b) calculate the value of p and of q;

(2)

(c) find the number of cells in the culture at 22:00 on Monday.

(2)
(Total 6 marks)

7. The population of fleas on a dog after t days, is modelled by

t
N = 4 × (2) 4 , t ≥ 0,

Some values of N are shown in the table below.

t 0 4 8 12 16 20
N p 8 16 32 q 128

(a) Write down the value of

(i) p;

(ii) q.
(3)

(b) Using the values in the table above, draw the graph of N for 0 ≤ t ≤ 20.
Use 1 cm to represent 2 days on the horizontal axis and 1 cm to represent 10 fleas on the vertical
axis.
(6)

(c) Use your graph to estimate the number of days for the population of fleas to reach 55.
(2)
(Total 11 marks)

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8. Given the function f(x) = 2 × 3x for –2 ≤ x ≤ 5,

(a) find the range of f;

(4)

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 (b) find the value of x given that f(x) = 162.
(2)
(Total 6 marks)

9. (a) Sketch the graph of y = 2x for –2 ≤ x ≤ 3. Indicate clearly where the curve intersects the y-axis.
(3)

(b) Write down the equation of the asymptote of the graph of y = 2x.
(2)

(c) On the same axes sketch the graph of y = 3 + 2x – x2. Indicate clearly where this curve intersects
the x and y axes.
(3)

(d) Using your graphic display calculator, solve the equation 3 + 2x – x2 = 2x.
(2)

(e) Write down the maximum value of the function f(x) = 3 + 2x – x2.
(1)

(f) Use Differential Calculus to verify that your answer to (e) is correct.
(5)
(Total 16 marks)

10. The mapping below is of the form f : x  a × 2x + b and maps the elements of x to elements of y.

0 –1

–2 –1.75

1 0

–1 –1.5

g 30

(a) (i) List the elements in the domain of f.

(ii) List the elements in the range of f.

(b) Find a and b.

(c) Find the value of g.

(Total 6 marks)

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11. The following graph shows the temperature in degrees Celsius of Robert’s cup of coffee, t minutes after
pouring it out. The equation of the cooling graph is f (t) =16 + 74 × 2.8−0.2t where f (t) is the temperature
and t is the time in minutes after pouring the coffee out.

100

Temperature (°C )
80
60
40
20
0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19
Time (minutes)

(a) Find the initial temperature of the coffee.

(1)

(b) Write down the equation of the horizontal asymptote.

(1)

(c) Find the room temperature.

(1)

(d) Find the temperature of the coffee after 10 minutes.

(1)

If the coffee is not hot enough it is reheated in a microwave oven. The liquid increases in temperature
according to the formula

T = A × 21.5t

where T is the final temperature of the liquid, A is the initial temperature of coffee in the microwave and t
is the time in minutes after switching the microwave on.

(e) Find the temperature of Robert’s coffee after being heated in the microwave for 30 seconds after it
has reached the temperature in part (d).
(3)

(f) Calculate the length of time it would take a similar cup of coffee, initially at 20C, to be heated in
the microwave to reach 100C.
(4)
(Total 11 marks)

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12. The figure below shows the graphs of the functions f (x) = 2x + 0.5 and g (x) = 4 − x2 for values of x
between –3 and 3.

y
f(x)
6

3 B

–3 –2 –1 0 1 2 3 x

–3 g(x)

(a) Write down the coordinates of the points A and B.

(b) Write down the set of values of x for which f (x)  g (x).

(Total 6 marks)

13. It is thought that a joke would spread in a school according to an exponential model
N = 4 × (1.356)0.4t, t  0; where N is the number of people who have heard the joke, and t is the time in
minutes after the joke is first told.

(a) How many people heard the joke initially?

(b) How many people had heard the joke after 16 minutes?

There are 1200 people in the school.

(c) Estimate how long it would take for everybody in the school to hear this joke.

(Total 6 marks)

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14. The figure below shows the graphs of the functions y = x2 and y = 2x for values of x between –2 and 5.

The points of intersection of the two curves are labelled as B, C and D.

y
20

C
15

10

5 B

D A
x
–2 –1 1 2 3 4 5

(a) Write down the coordinates of the point A.

(2)

(b) Write down the coordinates of the points B and C.

(2)

(c) Find the x-coordinate of the point D.

(1)

(d) Write down, using interval notation, all values of x for which 2x ≤ x2.
(3)
(Total 8 marks)

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15. The equation M = 90 × 2–t/20 gives the amount, in grams, of radioactive material held in a laboratory over
t years.

(a) What was the original mass of the radioactive material?

The table below lists some values for M.

t 60 80 100
M 11.25 v 2.8125

(b) Find the value of v.

(c) Calculate the number of years it would take for the radioactive material to have a mass of 45
grams.

(Total 8 marks)

16. A function is represented by the equation f (x) = 3(2)x + 1.

The table of values of f (x) – 3  x  2 is given below.

x –3 –2 –1 0 1 2
f (x) 1.375 1.75 a 4 7 b

(a) Calculate the values for a and b.

(2)

(b) On graph paper, draw the graph of f (x) , for – 3  x  2, taking 1 cm to represent 1 unit on both
axes.
(4)

The domain of the function f (x) is the real numbers, .

(c) Write down the range of f (x).

(2)

(d) Using your graph, or otherwise, find the approximate value for x when f (x) = 10.
(2)
(Total 10 marks)

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17. The graph below shows the temperature of a liquid as it is cooling.
y
100

90

80

70

60
Temperature (°C)

50

40

30

20

10

0
5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 x
Time in minutes

(a) Write down the temperature after 5 minutes.

(b) After how many minutes is the temperature 50°C?

The equation of the graph for all positive x can be written in the form y = 100(5–0.02x).

(c) Calculate the temperature after 80 minutes.

(d) Write down the equation of the asymptote to the curve.

(Total 8 marks)

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18. The following diagram shows the graph of y = 3–x + 2. The curve passes through the points (0, a) and (1,
b).

Diagram not to scale

(0, a)
(1, b)

O x

(a) Find the value of

(i) a;

(ii) b.

(b) Write down the equation of the asymptote to this curve.

(Total 8 marks)

19. The diagram below shows a part of the graph of y = ax. The graph crosses the y-axis at the point P. The
point Q (4, 16) is on the graph.
y
Q (4, 16)

P
Diagram not to scale
O x

Find

(a) the coordinates of the point P;

(b) the value of a.

(Total 8 marks)

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20. The graph below shows the curve y = k(2x) + c, where k and c are constants.
y

10

0 x
–6 –4 –2 2 4

–10

Find the values of c and k.

(Total 4 marks)

21. Under certain conditions the number of bacteria in a particular culture doubles every 10 seconds as
shown by the graph below.

5
Number
of 4
bacteria
3

0 10 20 30
Time
(seconds)

(a) Complete the table below.

Time (seconds) 0 10 20 30
Number of bacteria 1

(b) Calculate the number of bacteria in the culture after 1 minute.

(Total 4 marks)
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22. The following diagram shows part of the graph of an exponential function f(x) = a–x, where x  .
y
f(x)

0 x

(a) What is the range of f ?

(b) Write down the coordinates of the point P.

(c) What happens to the values of f(x) as elements in its domain increase in value?

(Total 4 marks)

23. In an experiment researchers found that a specific culture of bacteria increases in number according to the
formula

N = 150 × 2t,

where N is the number of bacteria present and t is the number of hours since the experiment began.

Use this formula to calculate

(a) the number of bacteria present at the start of the experiment;

(b) the number of bacteria present after 3 hours;

(c) the number of hours it would take for the number of bacteria to reach 19 200.

(Total 4 marks)

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