CALCULUS I

General Exponential & Logarithmic Functions

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Exponential Functions

An exponential function is a function of the form

f (x) = ax ,

where a > 0, a 6= 1 is a constant.

For example,
f (x) = e x , f (x) = 2x , and f (x) = ( 12 )x
are all exponential functions.

Contrast these with power functions of the form f (x) = x n ,

where n is a constant, such as

f (x) = x 2 , f (x) = x 1/2 , or f (x) = x e .

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Exponential Functions
If a > 0 and r = m/n is a rational √
number (m, n integers, and n > 0)
r
we know that “a ” means a m/n = n am . √
The meaning of a when x is irrational (2 2 , for example), is less clear.
x

We could define ax using rational approximations to x:

ax = lim ar .
r →x
r rational

It is more convenient, however,

R x 1 to define ax in terms of e x .
We have defined ln x = 1 t dt and e x as the inverse of ln x.
Hence for z > 0,
e ln z = z.
In particular,
x
ax = e ln(a ) = e x ln a ,
and so we have for any constant a > 0,

ax = e (ln a)x .
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Properties and Graphs

Let a be a constant, a > 0 and a 6= 1, and let f (x) = ax .

f (x) = ax > 0 for all real numbers x.
f (0) = a0 = 1, and so the point (0, 1) is on the graph.
f (1) = a1 = a, and so the point (1, a) is on the graph.
f (−1) = a−1 = 1a , and so the point (−1, 1/a) is on the graph.

The points (0, 1), (1, a), and (−1, 1/a) are useful reference points
for drawing the graph of f (x) = ax
and for comparing graphs for different values of a.

Other basic properties depend on whether a > 1 or a < 1.

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Properties and Graphs

Let a be a constant, a > 1 , and let f (x) = ax .

f (x) is always increasing.
f (x) is always concave up.
lim ax = +∞.
x→+∞
lim ax = 0, so y = 0 is a horizontal asymptote at −∞.
x→−∞
The graph of f (x) = ax has the following shape:

§5.4 Figure 1

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Properties and Graphs

Let a be a constant, 0 < a < 1 , and let f (x) = ax .

f (x) is always decreasing.
f (x) is always concave up.
lim ax = 0, so y = 0 is a horizontal asymptote at +∞.
x→+∞
lim ax = +∞.
x→−∞
The graph of f (x) = ax has the following shape:

§5.4 Figure 2

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General Logarithms

Let a > 0 and a 6= 1.

Since f (x) = ax is either always increasing or always decreasing,
it is a one-to-one function, hence has an inverse.

The inverse of f (x) = ax is the logarithm with base a, denoted loga x.

Notes:
f (x) = ax has domain (−∞, ∞) and range (0, ∞).
f −1 (x) = loga x has domain (0, ∞) and range (−∞, ∞).
loga x = y ⇐⇒ ay = x.
ln x = loge x.
log10 x is often denoted log x.

The general logarithm loga x turns out to be a constant multiple of ln x,

so for our purposes is not very important.

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General Logarithms
Finally, we relate loga x and the natural logarithm ln x.
Set loga x = y . We then have

x = ay

and taking the natural logarithm of both sides, we get

ln x = ln(ay ) = y ln a.

Hence y = ln x/ ln a; that is
1
loga x = ln x.
ln a
With the formula we derived earlier,

ax = e (ln a)x ,
we can now convert any general exponential or logarithmic function
to a natural exponential or logarithmic function.
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