Department of Mathematics and Computer Science

M1511 - Pre-Calculus Tutorial 7

Exponential and Logarithmic Functions

1. Discuss/analyse each of the equations and determine whether it is true or false. (Ignore values of
variables for which any term is undefined)

(a) log xy = log

log y
x

(b) log(x − y) = log x − log y

(c) log 2s = 2 log s
(d) (log2 9)x = x(log2 9)
(e) logs ss = s

2. Let f (x) = 4x . Evaluate the following:

(a) f (0) (b) f (1) (c) f (2) (d) f (− 12 )

3. Use the graph of f (x) = 3x to sketch the graph of the following functions.

(a) f (x) = 3x ± 1 (b) f (x) = 3−x (c) f (x) = −3x (d) f (x) = −3−x

4. Show that, if
 
f (x+h)−f (x) 8h −1
(a) f (x) = 8x , then h
= 8x h
.
 
f (x+h)−f (x) 4h −1
(b) f (x) = 4x−1 − 1, then h
= 4x−1 h
.

5. Solve for x, x2 − 2x = 0. [Hint: Plot the graphs].

6. Consider the function f : R → R defined byf (x) = 2x . Show that f (x) is injective but not
surjective.

7. Show that an exponential function is an inverse of a logarithmic function.

 8. Express the following in exponential form:

(a) loga (x) = 5 (b) 2 loga (y) = 9 (c) logb (x) = c

9. Evaluate the following logarithmic functions:

(a) log2 (16) (b) log10 (0.1) (c) log16 (4)

10. State the domain, range and asymptote for the following functions.

(a) f (x) = ln(x − 4) (c) y = 2 + log(x) (e) y = ln |x|

(b) f (x) = log5 (−x) (d) y = | ln(x)| (f) y = ln(x2 − 4)

11. Simplify the following using the Laws of Logarithms

(a) log4 (6) + 2 log4 (7) (d) log(x2 − 5) − log(x2 + 1) + log(x − 1)

1
(b) 2
log2 (5) − 2 log2 (7) (e) ln(a + b) − ln(a − b) − 2 ln(c)
(c) 3 ln(2) + 2 ln(x) − ln(x + 4) (f) 4 (log4 (x) + 2 log4 (y) − 3 log4 (z))

12. Find the solution of the following equations. Remember to check your answers.
2
(a) ex = e9 (f) ex + 15e−x − 8 = 0
(b) 52x−3 = 1 (g) log(x) + log(x − 1) = log(4x)
5−7x
(c) 2 = 15 (h) log5 (x) + log5 (x + 1) = log5 (20)
(d) 125x + 53x+1 = 200 (i) ln(x − 21 ) + ln(2) = 2 ln(x)
(e) e4x + 4e2x − 21 = 0 (j) log2 (3) + log2 (x) = log2 (5) + log2 (x − 2)

13. Some biologist model the number of species S in a fixed area A (such as an island) by the
species-area relationship
log S = log c + k log A
where c and k are positive constants that depend on the type of species and habitat.

(a) Solve the equation for S.

(b) Use part (a) to show that if k = 3, then doubling area increases the number of species
eightfold.

2
14. A small lake is stocked with a certain species of fish. The fish population is modeled by the function
10
P (t) =
1 + 4e−0.8t
where P is the number of fish in thousand and t is measured in years since the lake was stocked.

(a) Find the fish population after 3 years.

(b) After how many years will the fish population reach 5000 fish?

15. The relation between radians and degrees is given by

360◦ = 2π.

From the relation convert the following degrees to radians.

(a) 180◦ (c) 30◦ (e) 45◦

(b) 90◦ (d) 60◦