Exponential & Logarithmic

Functions
 Exponential Functions
• Definition: An exponential function is a
function in the form,
f(x)=abx where a ≠0, b > 0 , b ≠1.
Letting a=1, we have f(x)=bx .
• Properties of f (x) = bx
1. f (0) =1. The function will always take the
value of 1 at x = 0 .
2. f (x) ≠0 . An exponential function will
never be zero.
3. f (x) > 0 . An exponential function is
always positive.
 Exponential Functions
4. The previous two properties can be
summarized by saying that the range of an
exponential function is (0,∞) .
5. The domain of an exponential function is
(-∞,∞) .
6. If 0 < b <1 then,
a. f (x)→0 as x→∞
b. f (x)→∞ as x→-∞
7. If b >1 then,
a. f (x)→∞ as x→∞
b. f (x)→0 as x→-∞
Exponential Functions
Exponential Functions
 Exponential Functions
• Definition : The natural
exponential function is f(x) = ex
where, e = 2.71828182845905….
• Since e >1 then ex→∞ as x→∞ and
ex →0 as x→-∞.
 Logarithmic Functions
• If b > 0 and b ≠ 1, the exponential
function f(x) = bx is either increasing
or decreasing, so it is one-to-one.
• Thus, it has an inverse function f -1,
which is called the logarithmic
function with base b and is denoted
by logb.
 Logarithmic Functions
• If we use the formulation of an inverse
function given by
1
f ( x)  y  f ( y )  x
• Then we have
 Logarithmic Functions
• Thus, if x > 0, then logbx is the
exponent to which the base b
must be raised to give x.
 Logarithmic Functions
• Example 1 Without a calculator give
the exact value of each of the
following logarithms.
(a)log 216
• convert the logarithm to exponential
form.
log 216 = x is equivalent to 2x =16
log 216 = 4 because 24 =16
 Logarithmic Functions
(b) log9 1/531441
(c) log3/2 27/8
(d) log100.001
 Special Logarithms
• These are,

• In the natural logarithm the base e is

the same number as in the natural
exponential logarithm
Special Logarithms
Special Logarithms
 Logarithmic Functions
• Some of the basic properties of logarithms.

• Notice that the last two properties tell us that

are inverses of each other.

 Logarithmic Functions
• More Properties
 Logarithmic Functions
• Example 2: simplify the following
logarithms
Logarithmic Functions
 Logarithmic Functions
• The change of base formula is,

• It will convert from base b to base a.

• The two most common change of base formulas
are

• The usual reason for the change of base formula

is to compute the value of the logarithm that is in
a base that you can’t easily deal with.
 Logarithmic Functions
• Example 3:

• This shows us that regardless of which change of

base formula we use, we end up with the same
answer.
 Exponential & Logarithm
Equations
• We will be solving equations that
involve both exponentials and
logarithms in them.

• We shall therefore make great use of

all the properties of both that we
have covered.
 Exponential & Logarithm
Equations

• The first step is to get the exponential on

one side of the equation with a coefficient of
one.

• Now we need to get z out of the exponent so

that we can solve for it. We therefore
introduce the natural logarithm on both sides
and use the property
Exponential & Logarithm
Equations
Exponential & Logarithm
Equations
 Exponential & Logarithm
Equations

• The first step is to factor out x from

both terms but do not divide x on both
sides cause this will lead to loss of a
solution.

• At this point we have two possibilities

either
 Exponential & Logarithm
Equations
• We will now solve the second possibility

• We therefore have two solutions

Exponential & Logarithm
Equations
 Exponential & Logarithm
Equations

• The first step is to get the logarithm on one

side of the equation with a coefficient of 1.

• In order to factor out the x at this point we

introduce the exponent e on both sides.
 Exponential & Logarithm
Equations
• We shall then use the property

• We need to verify that is not negative because

we can’t plug a negative number into a logarithm. (
> 0)
• Therefore,
Exponential & Logarithm
Equations
 Exponential & Logarithm
Equations
• When solving equations with
logarithms, it is important to check
your potential solutions to make sure
that they don’t generate logarithms
of negative numbers or zero.
• It is also important to make sure
that you do the checks in the original
equation.