Chapter 6 Derivatives of Exponential and Logarithmic

Functions and their Applications

Exercise 6A

1. Differentiate y  3e3e  2 x with respect to x.

2. Differentiate y  3e3 x  5 x with respect to x.
3
3. Differentiate y  e x with respect to x.
1
3x 
4. Differentiate y  e x with respect to x.
2
 2 x 1
5. Differentiate y  e x with respect to x.
2
6. Differentiate y  4e3 x  3e x  4 with respect to x.

7. Differentiate y  e2 x  e x
with respect to x.
2 x
e 2x
e
8. Differentiate y  with respect to x.
2
3e 2 x  5e 2 x
9. Differentiate y  with respect to x.
2
10. Differentiate y  x 2e x with respect to x.
2
ex
11. Differentiate y  2 with respect to x.
x
12. Differentiate y  xe2 x with respect to x.
13. Differentiate y  ( x 2  4 x  5)e x with respect to x.
3
 x 3
14. Differentiate y  (1  x3 )e x with respect to x.

15. Differentiate y  eex with respect to x.

16. Differentiate y  6 x  4 x with respect to x.

2

17. Differentiate y  43 x  2 with respect to x.

18. Differentiate y  3( x  2) with respect to x.

2

2 x 3
19. Differentiate y  6 with respect to x.
2
1 x 2 1
20. Differentiate y  5 x e with respect to x.

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21. Differentiate y  with respect to x.
e  e x
x

x
22. Differentiate g ( x)  6 x
e 6 with respect to x.
3
23. Differentiate y  1
with respect to x.

5e x

3e 2 x
24. Differentiate y  1
with respect to x.
1 ex
2 dx
25. If x  e y , express in terms of y.
dy
dx
26. If x  e y 1, express
2
in terms of y.
dy
dx
27. If y  (e x  2 x )3, express in terms of x.
dy
1
dx
28. If y  (5 x
e ) ,
3x 2
express in terms of x.
dy
2
2x dx
29. If y  e x , express in terms of x.
dy
3 x 2
dx
30. If y  e x2 , express in terms of x.
dy
1
31. Find the second derivative of y  with respect to x.
3  e2 x
2
32. Find the second derivative of y  x3e x with respect to x.
x2  e x
33. (a) If f ( x)  , find f ' ( x) .
xe x
(b) Hence find f ' (1) .
34. If f ( x)  x 2e3 x , find f ' (1) .
e 2 x
35. If f ( x)  , find f ' (0) .
e x  e3 x
36. Let g ( x)  3x 1. Solve the equation g" ( x)  3.
d2y dy
37. Let y  x 2e x . Prove that 2
 2  y  2e x.
dx dx
38. If y  5 x , prove that y"  2 y '  y  5 x (1  ln 5) 2 .

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 bx  3
39. Let f ( x)  eax , where a and b are constants. If f (1)  1 and f ' (1)  0 , find the values of a and b.
40. Let y  3x e x .
dx
(a) Express in terms of x.
dy
d 2x 1
(b) By using the chain rule, prove that   2x 2x .
dy 2
3 e (1  ln 3)
1 3t  1 3t 8 4t  1 4t dy
41. Let x  3
 e and y  3  e (t  0) . If  8, find the value of t.
t 3 t 16 dx

Exercise 6B

42. Differentiate y  ln(x  5) 2 with respect to x.

43. Differentiate y  ln(x 2  4 x  7) with respect to x.

44. Differentiate y  ln 3x 2  6 x  7 with respect to x.

45. Differentiate y  ln(2 x 2  5x  3) with respect to x.

46. Differentiate y  ln(x 4e3 x ) with respect to x.

x
47. Differentiate y  ln( x  e )3
2 with respect to x.

48. Differentiate y  [ln(x 4  e x )]3 with respect to x.

3x 2
49. Differentiate y  ln with respect to x.
2x2  1
ln x3
50. Differentiate y  with respect to x.
x2
51. Differentiate y  ln [(x 2  2)(x 2  5)] with respect to x.
52. Differentiate y  ( x  2) ln(x 2  2 x  8) with respect to x.
x
53. Differentiate y  x ln with respect to x.
4
54. Differentiate y  ln [ x (3x  4)] with respect to x.
55. Differentiate y  e2 x ln 2 x with respect to x.

56. Differentiate y  4 x ln x 4 with respect to x.

57. Differentiate y  ln(x  1) ln(x 2  4) with respect to x.
ln(2 x  4)
58. Differentiate y  with respect to x.
ln(x  2)
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59. Differentiate y  ln [ln(x3  1)] with respect to x.
60. Differentiate y  ln(ln 2 x 2  8) with respect to x.

61. Differentiate y  log5 ( x3  2 x) with respect to x.

62. Differentiate y  log2 ( x 2e x ) with respect to x.

63. Differentiate y  log2 x 2  2 x  e2 x with respect to x.

3x  1
64. Differentiate y  log2 with respect to x.
2x  1
65. Differentiate y  7 x log7 x with respect to x.
66. Find the second derivative of y  ln(x 2  e2 x ) with respect to x.
67. Find the second derivative of y  x 2 (ln 2 x  2) with respect to x.
1
68. Let f ( x)  loga x , where a  0 and a  1. If f ' (2)  , find the value of a.
4
1
69. Let f ( x)  ln(axb ) where a and b are rational constants. If f (9)  8 ln 3 and f ' (6)  , find the values of a
2
and b.
d 2 y dy
70. Let y  x 2 ln x 2 . Prove that x   4 x.
dx2 dx
71. Let y  xe x ln x . Prove that xy"  xy'  y  ( x  1)e x .
72. Let y  ln(2 x  3).
dx
(a) Express in terms of x.
dy
d 2 x dx
(b) By using the chain rule, prove that  .
dy2 dy
2
[ Hint: d x2  d ( dx ) . ]
dy dy dy

73. Let y  x k ln x , where k is a rational constant. It is given that for any positive real numbers x,
4 x 2 y"  8xy'  9 y  0. Find the value of k.

74. Let y  ln(x 2  2 x  3).

dx
(a) Express in terms of x.
dy
d 2 x 2( x 2  2 x  1)(x 2  2 x  3)
(b) By using the chain rule, prove that  .
dy2 (2 x  2)3

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Exercise 6C

75. Differentiate y  ( x  4)3 (3x  2) with respect to x.

(3x  4) 2
76. Differentiate y  with respect to x.
5x  2
77. Differentiate y  ( x 2  5x  2)3 ( x3  2 x  1)2 with respect to x.
1 1

78. Differentiate y  ( x3  6 x 2  3) 3 ( x 2  2 x  9) 2 with respect to x.
1
(2 x  1) 2
79. Differentiate y  2
with respect to x.
(x  2) 3

ex
80. Differentiate y  with respect to x.
5x  2
2
3x 2 4
81. Differentiate y  e (6 x  3 x2
 1) 3 with respect to x.

e3 x  1
82. Differentiate y  with respect to x.
ln(x  2)

83. Differentiate y  e 5x
x 3
with respect to x.
3x 2
84. Differentiate y  (3x 2 ) 6
e with respect to x.

85. Differentiate y  (3x 2  1)2 ( x 4  4)3 (5x  6)5 with respect to x.

4x
86. Differentiate y  with respect to x.
(3x  5)3 (2 x  3) 5
2

87. Differentiate y  ( x 2  x3  2)4 ( x 2  1)3 (e3x  x)3 with respect to x.

2

2
( x3  3x  1) 3  e 2 x
88. Differentiate y  with respect to x.
(e x
 1) 4
( x  2)(2 x  5)
89. Differentiate y  with respect to x.
( x  4)(3x  1)

( x3  2)( x  1) 2
90. Differentiate y  with respect to x.
x3 ( x 2  4 x  5)
(3x  4) 2 (5  2 x) 4
91. Differentiate y  3 with respect to x.
(2 x  1)3 (2e3 x  3x)
x
92. Differentiate y  x e with respect to x.
3
 3 x 1
93. Differentiate y  x 2 x with respect to x.
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94. Differentiate y  ( x  ) x with respect to x.
x
95. Differentiate y  (ln x)ln x with respect to x.
(2 x  1) 2 1
96. Let y  1 1
, where x  .
2
(5 x  2) 3 (3x  1) 2
(a) (i) Express ln y in the form of a ln(2 x  1)  b ln(5x  2)  c ln(3x  1) , where a, b and c are constants.
dy
(ii) Hence find .
dx

(b) Suppose y  5w .
dw
(i) Express in terms of y.
dy
dw
(ii) Hence express in terms of x.
dx
3
3e x 1
97. Let u  3 , where x  .
(2 x  1) 3 2
(a) (i) Express ln u in terms of x.
du
(ii) Hence find .
dx

(b) Suppose u  e3 y  2 .
dy
(i) Express in terms of u.
du
dy
(ii) Hence express in terms of x.
dx

2
e x  3x
98. Let y  .
1  3e 2 x
dy
(a) When x  0 , find the value of .
dx
(b) Let ( z 2  1)e8 z  ea bx, where a and b are constants.
(i) Express ln(z 2  1) as a linear function of x.
(ii) Given that the graph of the linear function obtained in (b)(i) passes through the origin and its
slope is 12, find the values of a and b.
dy
(iii) Using the values of a and b obtained in (b)(ii), find .
dz z  0

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99. Let z  e x (e2 x  x) ln(2 x  1).
dz
(a) When x  0 , find the value of .
dx
(b) Let ( y 6  1)e2 y  ea bx , where a and b are constants.
(i) Express ln( y 6  1)  2 y as a linear function of x.
(ii) Given that the intercept on the vertical axis of the graph of the linear function obtained in (b)(i) is
0 and the graph passes through (2, 4), find the values of a and b.
dz
(iii) Using the values of a and b obtained in (b)(ii), find the value of when y  0.
dy

2e x 1
2

100. Let y  x 1 .
e 1
dy
(a) When x  1, find the value of .
dx
(b) Let ( z 4  1)e4 z  eh  kx, where h and k are constants.
(i) Express ln(z 4  1)  4 z as a linear function of x.
(ii) Given that the intercept on the vertical axis and the slope of the graph of the linear function
obtained in (b)(i) are 2 and 2 respectively, find the values of h and k.
dy
(iii) Using the values of h and k obtained in (b)(ii), find the value of when z  0.
dz

Exercise 6D

1  2e x
101. If f ( x)  , find
1  2e x
(a) f ' (0) .
(b) the equation of the tangent to the curve y  f (x) at x  0 .
e x  e x
102. If f ( x)  , find
x 1
(a) f ' (0) .
(b) the equation of the tangent to the curve y  f (x) at x  0 .
103. If f ( x)  xe x , find
(a) f ' (e) .
(b) the equation of the tangent to the curve y  f (x) at x  e.

104. If f ( x)  e x 1 ln(2 x  e  2) , find

(a) f ' (1) .
(b) the equation of the tangent to the curve y  f (x) at x  1.

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6 x 2 9 x  2
105. Find the local extrema of f ( x)  e x .
ln 8 x 4
106. If f ( x)  , find the local extrema of f (x) .
x4
107. Find the global extrema of the function f ( x)  ln(x 2  4 x  5) for 0  x  5.
108. Find the global extremum of the function f ( x)  e2 x  22e x  20x for 2  x  2 .
109. The population P (in millions) of a city after t years can be modelled by P  5.8e0.02t .
(a) Find the population of the city after 4 years.
dP
(b) Find and interpret the meaning of the value.
dt t 4
(Give your answers correct to 3 significant figures.)
110. The value $V of a car after t years can be expressed as V  250 000e0.2t .
(a) Find the initial value of the car.
(b) How long will it take for the value of the car to decrease to half of the original?
(c) Find the value of the car after 5 years.
(d) Find the rate of change of the value of the car after 5 years.
(Give your answers correct to 3 significant figures if necessary. )
111. The weight W (t ) (in kg) of a pig after t weeks of its birth can be modelled by W (t )  15  24ln(t  1).
(a) Find the weight of the pig after 7 weeks of its birth.
(b) Find the average rate of change of the weight of the pig for the first 7 weeks after its birth.
(c) Find the rate of change of the weight of the pig after 7 weeks of its birth.
(Give your answers correct to 3 significant figures if necessary.)

112. After t seconds from the start of the Formula One racing, the speed v(t) (in m/s) of a Formula One car can
70t 2
be modelled by v(t )  3
(0  t  4) .
(t  6) 2
(a) Find the speed of the car after 3 seconds from the start of the racing.
(b) Hence use logarithmic differentiation to find the acceleration of the car after 3 seconds from the start
of the racing.
(Give your answers correct to 3 significant figures.)

113. Find the equation of the tangent to the curve y  ln 2 x 2  x  2 which is parallel to the line 4 x  2 y  5  0.

2
e6 x
114. Find the equations of the tangents to the curve y  2 which pass through the origin.
x

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115. Consider the function y  e3kx  6e2kx  15ekx  6kx, where k is a positive constant.
dy
(a) Prove that  3k (e kx  2)(e kx  1) 2 .
dx
1
(b) Prove that y attains its local minimum at x  ln 2 .
k
(c) Find the local minimum of y.

116. The number of infected chickens P(t ) after t days of the outbreak of the bird flu in a farm can be modelled
4 200
by P(t )  , where t  0.
3  18e  0.5t
(a) Find the initial number of infected chickens.
(b) Find P' (t ).
(c) Will the number of infected chickens exceed 1 500? Explain briefly.

117. When a can of soft drink is taken out from the refrigerator, it is 6C originally. Its temperature TC after t
minutes can be expressed as T  28  Aekt where A and k are constants. It is given that the temperature of
the can of soft drink is 10C after 2 minutes.
(a) Find the exact values of A and k.
(b) Find the rate of change of the temperature of the can of soft drink after 2 minutes. (Give your answer
correct to 2 significant figures.)

118. The weekly sales volume of a mobile phone after starting the promotion for t weeks is S (t ) , where
100
S (t )  (0  t  50) , A and k are constants. It is given that the weekly sales volumes after starting
1  Ae kt
the promotion for 2 weeks and 4 weeks are 444 and 300 respectively.
(a) Find the exact values of A and k.
(b) Find the rate of change of the weekly sales volume after starting the promotion for 4 weeks.
(Give your answer correct to 2 significant figures.)

119. The distance of the water rocket from the ground h(t ) (in m) after launching for t seconds can be
modelled by h(t )  t 2ekt , where 0  t  30. It is given that the distances of the water rocket from the
ground after launching for 6 seconds and 15 seconds are equal.
(a) Find the exact value of k.
(b) What is the distance of the water rocket from the ground when it reaches its highest point? (Give
your answer correct to 3 significant figures.)

120. After receiving drug injection for t hours, the concentration C (t ) (in mg/100mL) of the drug in the
bloodstream of the patient can be modelled by C (t )  10t hekt (t  0), where h and k are constants. It is
given that the concentration of the drug attains its maximum of 1.68 mg/100mL after 1.5 hours. Find the
values of h and k. (Give your answers correct to 1 significant figure.)
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121. The population P (in thousands) of a satellite city can be modelled by ln P  a  e kt t  0.1, where a and k
2

are constants, and time t is measured in 10 years and t  0 corresponds to the beginning of 2008. The
government estimates that the satellite city will attain its maximum population of 350 000 at the beginning
of 2033. Find the values of a and k. (Give your answers correct to 1 significant figure if necessary.)
122. The volume of an object V (T ) (in cm3 ) varies as the temperature T (in C),
where V (T )  2.5T 2  37.5 ln(T 2  1)  160 (1.5  T  10).
(a) Find V ' (T ) .
(b) Determine the range of T under which the rate of change of V (T ) with respect to T is
(i) positive.
(ii) negative.
(c) Find the smallest volume of the object and its corresponding temperature. (Give your answer s correct
to 3 significant figures if necessary.)
123. The cost $C ( x) of producing x kinds of models can be modelled by C ( x)  120x  4(2 x 2  5x)(0.9) x ,
where 1  x  20 . It is given that the average cost of producing x kinds of models is $C ( x) ,
C ( x)
where C ( x)  .
x
(a) Find C ' (5) and C ' (5) , and interpret their meanings. (Give your answers correct to 3
significant figures.)
(b) How many kinds of models should be produced to bring the average cost to the maximum? (Give
your answer correct to the nearest integer.)
124. The body temperature T (t )C of a person being sent to the hospital after t hours can be modelled
by T (t )  37  0.05(2t 2  5t  12)e0.2t (0  t  12).
(a) Find T ' (t ) .
(b) When will his body temperature be the highest? What is the corresponding temperature?
(c) When will the rate of change of his body temperature be the largest? What is the corresponding rate
of change?
(Give your answers correct to 3 significant figures if necessary. )
125. When a cargo ship struck a reef and sank, chemicals on it spilled and polluted the nearby area of the sea. t
days after the sinking of the ship, researchers recorded the concentration of the chemicals C (t ) (in
ppm) in that area of the sea and found that the concentration can be modelled by
C (t )  20  a(t 2  14t  7.25)ekt (t  0) , where a and k are positive constants. It is given that the
concentration of the chemicals was 5.5 ppm when the ship struck the reef (i.e. t  0 )
and C (13)  C(6.5)  55.81.
(a) Find the values of a and k. (Give your answers correct to 1 significant figure if necessary.)
Using the values of a and k obtained in (a),
(b) find the highest concentration of the chemicals. (Give your answer correct to 3 significant figures.)
(c) what will be the concentration of the chemicals after a long period of time?
[ Hint: lim x  e x  0, where  and  are positive constants. ]
x

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126. A company spends x (in million dollars) on promoting a new product. The profit P (in million dollars)
from selling the new product can modelled by P  Ax (1  x  80), where A and  are positive constants.
The following table shows the corresponding values of x and P.
x 5 8 11 14 17

P 20.12 25.46 29.85 33.67 37.11

(a) Express ln P as a linear function of ln x.

(b) Using the graph, find the values of A and . (Give your answers correct to 1 significant figure if
necessary.)

(c) According to the values of A and  obtained in (b), if the company spends 5 million dollars on
promoting a new product, find the rate of change of the profit from selling the new product with
respect to the promotion fee. (Give your answer correct to 3 significant figures.)

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127. The relation of the power of an engine P (in kW) and the number of operating hours of the engine t can be
modelled by P  500  Aekt (0  t  225), where A and k are positive constants. The following table shows
the corresponding values of P and t.
t 50 100 150 200

P 480 450 378 200

(a) Express ln(500  P) as a linear function of t.

(b) Using the graph, find the values of A and k. (Give your answers correct to 2 significant figures if
necessary.)

(c) According to the values of A and k obtained in (b), find the power and the rate of change of the power
of the engine when t  75. (Give your answers correct to 3 significant figures.)

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128. The decay of a radioactive substance can be modelled by the equation M  M 0ekt , where M (in g) is
the mass of the undecayed substance after t years, M 0 and k are constants.

(a) Find the rate of change of the mass of the undecayed substance after t years.
dM
(b) The following table shows the corresponding values of M and .
dt
M 73.1 55.8 51.0 42.6 22.7
dM
65.8 50.2 45.9 38.3 20.4
dt

dM
Plot the graph of against M and hence find the value of k. (Give your answer correct to 1
dt
significant figure.)

Using the value of k obtained in (b),

(c) it is given that the mass of the undecayed substance after half year is 51.0 g. Find the initial mass of
the undecayed substance. (Give your answer correct to 2 significant figures.)
(d) what is the rate of change of the mass of the undecayed substance after 1 year? (Give your answer
correct to 3 significant figures.)

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129. There were P(t ) (in thousands) people in a shopping centre in a New Year ’s Eve, where
P(t )  ln(3t 3  27t 2  72t  5) (0  t  6) , the time t was measured in hours and t  0 corresponded to 6 p.m.
(a) Find P(5) and P' (5) , and interpret their meanings.
(b) When was the number of people in the shopping centre the highest? What was the corresponding
number of people?
(Give your answers correct to 3 significant figures if necessary.)

130. Some wolves are lured into a region by a research institute. Researchers have found that the number of
rabbits N (t ) (in thousands) in that region after t years can be modelled by
N (t )  2a  (3a  40)et  190e2t , where a and  are constants, and   0. It is given that there are 130
thousand rabbits before the wolves have been lured into the region.
(a) (i) Find the value of a.
(ii) What is the minimum number of rabbits? (Give your answer correct to 3 significant figures.)
(b) The figure below shows the sketch of y  N (t ) . It is given that there will be less than 32
thousand rabbits during a period of 7.4 years. Find the value of . (Give your answer correct to 1
significant figure.)
y

130 y  N(t )

32

t
O 7.4

Using the values of a and  obtained,

(c) how long will it take for the number of rabbits in the region to be the lowest after the wolves have
been lured into the region? (Give your answer correct to 2 significant figures.)
(d) how many rabbits will there be in the region after a long period of time?

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131. The concentration of a chemical C (x) (in mg/L) at different locations of a river can be modelled
by C ( x)  (0.1x 2  60x  a)ex  4 000(0  x  2 000), where a and  are constants, and x is the distance
between the location and the source of the river in m.
It is given that the concentration of the chemical at the source of the river is 1 000 mg/L and the
concentration of the chemical is the highest when x  150.
(a) Find the values of a and .
(b) Will the concentration of the chemical exceed 6 000 mg/L?
(c) It is given that when the concentration of the chemical is higher than 4 000 mg/L, the location is
regarded as a dangerous zone.
(i) Find the length of the dangerous zone of the river. (Give your answer correct to the nearest m.)
(ii) What is the lowest concentration of the chemical at the downstream of the danger ous zone? (Give
your answer correct to 3 significant figures.)

132. In an experiment of bacterial culture, P(t ) (in thousands) is the number of bacteria in the beaker after t
hours from 8 a.m. Researchers have found that P(t ) can be modelled by ln P(t )  h  e1 kt, where h and k
are constants. It is given that P(3)  1 737 and P(6)  3 277.
3 277
(a) Prove that e  6k  e 3k  e 1 ln  0.
1 737
(b) Hence find two sets of values of h and k. (Give your answers correct to 2 decimal places.)
(c) If P(9)  4 148.7, determine which set of values of h and k obtained in (b) will make the model fit for
the given data.
Using the values of h and k obtained in (c),
d 2 P (t )
(d) (i) express in terms of t and P(t ).
dt 2
(ii) when will the rate of change of the number of bacteria in the beaker be the largest? (Give your
answer correct to the nearest hour.)

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