Module 4 – Exponential and Logarithmic Functions

4.1 – Exponential Functions of a Real Variable

Reading Guide

It might already have occurred to you that there is a problem with the idea of letting the
exponent in a power expression be a variable with arbitrary real values. After all we have
only defined powers with rational exponents.

The key fact that allows us to invent a definition for all real exponents is the fact that
small changes in the exponent make only small changes in the result. This allows us to
“fill in the gaps” by defining irrational powers as “limits” of rational ones.

This idea is elaborated at the beginning of Section 4.2 of the text.

Open the text now and read pages 291 and 292.

p291
After reading the authors’ construction of the graph of y  2 x on page 291, repeat the
same process (starting with integer values of x, adding some fractional points, and filling
in) to draw graphs for y  4 x and y   12  . Your graphs of 2 x , 4 x , and  12  should each
x x

look roughly like one or other of the general patterns shown at the top of page 285.

This process would work similarly for any base a>0. What happens if the base is
negative? Or zero? (for answer look on page 292)

p292
If a > 0, then so is any power of a. So the graph of y  a x stays always above the x-axis.
But even though a x is always positive, if a less than 1 then high powers of a will be very
small, and the graph will get very close to the x-axis on the far right.
On the other hand, if a > 1 then high powers of a will be large, but high negative powers
will be the reciprocals of large numbers and so will give very small results. So in this
case the graph of y  a x will get close to the x-axis on the far left. Either way, our
exponential graph has the x-axis as an asymptote. Unlike the case for rational functions,
these exponential functions have asymptotes on just one side – on the left if the base is
greater than 1 and on the right if the base is less than 1.
Note also that if a>1 then f ( x )  a x is an increasing function (ie greater exponents give
bigger results) but that if 0<a<1 then it is decreasing (greater exponents give smaller
results). What happens if a=1? (the answer is at the end of the second last paragraph
before the theorem on p292).
p292-4
As a consequence of the previous observation we see that for a  1 the simple
exponential function with base a is one-to-one. This makes it possible to solve simple
exponential equations as in the Illustration and Example#1 at the top of page 293.

Once we understand the general pattern it is easy to quickly graph simple exponential
functions as in Examples#2&3 by just using the point at x=1 to get the scale right. And
then shifting and scaling can be used to graph related functions as in Examples#4&5 on
pg 294-5.

Note that the graph for Example#6 is not one-to-one. Although exponential functions of
the form f ( x)  a x are always one-to-one if 0< a  1 , other functions involving
exponentials need not be.
Our text, like most, uses the name “exponential function” just for cases with f ( x)  a x ,
but some others use it more generally and call f ( x )  a x a “simple exponential function”.

p295
The general behaviour of more complicated functions involving exponentials can often
be figured out on the basis of whether the powers involved have positive or negative
exponents. For example in the bell curve of Example#6, the exponent  x 2 is always
negative and becomes even more negative as x   . So the value of 2 x is always
2

less than 1 and the graph has a horizontal asymptote at y = 0 on both sides.

Using this quick qualitative approach you might have drawn the correct overall shape
without plotting as many explicit points as the text did – just the intercept and asymptotes
might have been enough.

After considering Example#6, try using the quick qualitative approach to graph
1
f ( x)  , then check or improve your graph by adding a few more explicit points
1  2 x
(eg at x = -2, -2, 0, 1, 2) as the text did for the bell curve, and finally check your result
with a graphing calculator or the Graph Explorer applet.
p296-299
When reading through the Applications on pages 296-299, note that in each case the rate
of change of some quantity might be expected to be proportional to the quantity itself.
For example, the rate of growth of a population should depend on the number of adults
available to breed; the rate at which money grows in the bank depends on how much you
have on deposit; or, in the last example, the amount of drug left in the pill might go down
due to dissolving through the wall of the pill at a rate which might depend on the
concentration of what’s left inside the pill. It will be important for you to be able to
recognize such situations on the basis of a verbal description (even if they come from
applications that have not been studied in this course) and to realize that exponential
functions might be necessary in order to study them.

NOTE: In some of the applications (eg population growth) the quantity involved actually
only takes on whole number values but the timing of the jumps (eg births) may be
unpredictable or random. In such cases, the continuous exponential growth model might
be thought of as an average over all possible cases. So if a model predicts say 12.5 deer
on an island at some time it might be reasonable to expect anywhere from 10 with two
pregnant to 13 with one newborn. In other cases, such as compound interest, the jumps
occur at specific times and the formula only applies exactly at those times. To get the
exact formula would require rounding down the time to the immediately preceding
interest payment – which would be an application of the greatest integer function.
Summary Notes

The main points to remember are as follows:

Exponential functions are functions of the form f ( x)  a x for a  0, a  1 .

(For irrational values of the argument they are defined by taking limits of cases with
rational ones.)
For a>0 the value of f ( x)  a x is always positive, no matter what x is.

For every positive a  1 the exponential function with base a is one-to-one

(increasing if a>1 with a horizontal asymptote at y=0 on the left,
and decreasing with a horizontal asymptote at y=0 on the right if a<1).
What happens if a<0? If a=0? If a=1? (See answer #1 below)

The one-to-one property allows us to solve some simple exponential equations.

The general pattern for this is that if a expression#1  a expression#2 , then expression#1=expression#2.
Check that you understand this by solving for x in 2 x 3  22 x .(See answer #2 )

Note that each side must be of the form a expression and the bases must be equal for this to
work. Sometimes a bit of cleverness with power rules can get you to this form if that’s
not quite what you are given. For example can you solve 8  2 x  4 x ? (See answer #3)

Once we understand the general pattern it is easy to quickly graph simple exponential
functions by just using the points at x=0 and x=1 to get the scale right.
What are the y-values at these two points? (See answer #4)

Shifting and scaling can be used to graph related functions.

How are (i) y  2 x 3 and (ii) y  22 x related to y  2 x ?(See answer #5)

The general behaviour of more complicated functions involving exponentials can often
be figured out on the basis of whether the powers involved have positive or negative
exponents. For example in the bell curve of Example#6, the exponent  x 2 is always
negative and becomes even more negative as x   . So the value of 2 x is always
2

less than 1 and the graph has a horizontal asymptote at y = 0 on both sides.

Using this quick qualitative approach you might have drawn the correct overall shape
without plotting as many explicit points as the text did – just the intercept and asymptotes
and maybe one other point (e.g. at x=1) might have been enough.
1
Try using the quick qualitative approach to graph f ( x )  , then check or improve
1  2 x
your graph by adding a few more explicit points (eg at x = -2, -2, 0, 1, 2) as the text did
for the bell curve, and finally check your result with a graphing calculator or the
GraphExplorer applet.
Applications of exponential functions include radioactive decay, population growth,
compound interest, and just about anything else where the same factor is applied
repeatedly. This happens typically when the rate of change of some quantity is
proportional to the current size of the quantity itself.

For example, the rate of growth of a population should depend on the number of adults
available to breed; the rate at which money grows in the bank depends on how much you
have on deposit; or, in the text’s last example on page 291, the amount of drug left in a
pill might go down due to dissolving through the wall of the pill at a rate depending on
the concentration of what’s left inside the pill. It will be important for you to be able to
recognize such situations on the basis of a verbal description (even if they come from
applications that have not been studied in this course) and to realize that exponential
functions might be necessary in order to study them.

NOTE: In some of the applications (eg population growth) the quantity involved actually
only takes on whole number values but the timing of the jumps (eg births) may be
unpredictable or random. In such cases, the continuous exponential growth model might
be thought of as an average over all possible cases. So if a model predicts say 12.5 deer
on an island at some time it might be reasonable to expect anywhere from 10 with two
pregnant to 13 with one newborn. In other cases, such as compound interest, the jumps
occur at specific times and the formula only applies exactly at those times. To get the
exact formula would require rounding down the time to the immediately preceding
interest payment – which would be an application of the greatest integer function.
(See answer#6).
Further Practice

Check your understanding, and practice for speed, by working through some of the
Exercises on pp299-304.

Do enough of the odd numbered questions of each type to convince yourself that you can
get the right answers. (Note that, as usual, the answers are in the back of the text and
complete worked solutions are in the student study guide - but try to avoid looking at
answers or solutions until you have made your own best effort.)

Rather than using the solution guide try to match the questions with text examples
Eg for #1-10 try comparing with Example#1
for #11-24 try comparing with Examples#2-4
for #25-28 try comparing with Example#5
for #29-48 try to find similar applications or question types among the
Applications on pp295-299.
#49-66 give you an opportunity to practice using your calculator or computer on
similar examples involving numbers you might not want to crank out “by hand”.

As a bare minimum you should do ##1,5,11,15,21,25,31,35,41and 45, and when done,

compare your solutions with those in the student solutions guide. If your answers are
different or you couldn’t do them without looking, check the guide to see what ideas you
were missing and try again with some of ##3,13,23,33,and 43. And so on…
Your criterion for success should be to be able to complete such a set of 5 correctly
without referring to the solutions before you are done.
Answers to Questions

1
1. If a is negative, then a 2  a is not a real number. So a x is undefined as a real number
when x  12 . The same is true whenever x is rational with an even denominator and odd
numerator – which includes, for example, every decimal ending with an odd digit.
And if x has an odd denominator, just increasing the numerator by 1 makes the result
jump across to the other side of the x-axis. So there is no natural way to “fill in” the
graph, and we shall not attempt to study exponential functions with negative base.

If a  0 then a 1  1 a is undefined, as is also a x for all x  0 . And at x=0 we get another

undefined expression 00 . 0 x is well defined for x>0, but since its domain is restricted it
is not usually included as an “exponential function”.

If a  1 , then a x  1 for all x. This is perfectly well defined but is not one-to-one (in fact it
is constant) and our text does not call it an “exponential function”.
2. If 2 x 3  22 x then x  3  2 x , so x=3.
3. 8  2 x  23  2 x  23 x and 4 x   22   22 x , so it’s the same as the previous one.
x
4. At x=0, y=1 and at x=1, y=a
5. The most natural correct answers would be
(i)Shift left by 3, and (ii) Squash horizontally to half its width.
But by the results of #3 above, for (i) it would also be correct to say
(i)Stretch vertically by a factor of 8
6. If interest is paid at the end of each compounding interval, then the correct
§ mt ¨
formula would be A  P  1  mr 