Differential Calculus IV

Application of Differential Equations

GTX 106

Exponential Growth and Decay

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Exponential Growth and Decay
Solution:
𝑑𝑥
= 𝑘𝑥, 𝑘 ≠ 0 -Integrate both sides
𝑑𝑡

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Derivation : 𝑡 = ‫𝑥𝑑 ׬‬
𝑘𝑥
𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝑡 1 1
. =1 𝑡 = ‫𝑥𝑑 ׬‬
𝑑𝑡 𝑑𝑥 𝑘 𝑥
𝑑𝑡 𝑑𝑡 1
= 1. 𝑡 = 𝑙𝑜𝑔𝑒 𝑥 + 𝑐
𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝑥 𝑘
𝑑𝑡 1
𝑑𝑥
=
𝑘𝑥
𝑥 = 𝑒 𝑘(𝑡−𝑐)
1 𝑥 = 𝑒 𝑘𝑡−𝑘𝑐
𝑑𝑡 = 𝑑𝑥 𝑥 = 𝑒 −𝑘𝑐 . 𝑒 𝑘𝑡
𝑘𝑥
𝑥 = 𝐶. 𝑒 𝑘𝑡 4
 Exponential Growth and Decay
• For natural processes such as bacterial growth
or radioactive decay, which quantities
increase or decrease at an exponential rate.
𝒚 𝒕 = 𝒚𝟎 𝒆𝒌𝒕
• If 𝑘 > 0, we say that 𝑦 grows exponentially and
𝑘 is called the growth constant
• If 𝑘 < 0, we say that 𝑦 decays exponentially and
𝑘 is called the decay constant
• 𝑦0 is called the initial value

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 Half-Life
• Assume that a quantity 𝑦 of a certain substance decays exponentially, with
decay constant 𝑘. Let 𝑦0 be the quantity at time 𝑡 = 0. At what time 𝑇 will
only half of the original quantity remain?
• Let 𝑦 𝑡 = 𝑦0 𝑒 𝑘𝑡 . Hence, at time 𝑇
𝟏
• 𝒚𝟎 = 𝒚𝟎 𝒆𝒌𝑻
𝟐
1
• = 𝑒 𝑘𝑇
2
• − ln 2 = 𝑘𝑇
𝑙𝑛2
• => 𝑇= −
𝑘
• 𝑇 is called the half-life of the substance

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 Example: Exponential Decay
“Barium Cow” is a radioactive isotope of barium that is used in nuclear medicine. It has a half-life
of 30 seconds i.e. the amount present will reduce by half every 30 seconds. How much of a 1 kg
sample of barium cow would remain after 5 minutes?

• Answer:
• The first step is to find the value of k.
• N = Noe-kt 0.5 = 1 e -30k ln 0.5 = -30k

ln 0.5 0.6931
• k= − =− = 0.0231
30 30
•
• Now we can use the value of k to determine how much barium cow remains.
• Since we used the time units of seconds to find k we convert 5 minutes to 300 seconds.
• N and No can be any units as long as they are the same.
• In this problem we will use grams. 1 kg = 1000 grams
• N = Noe-kt N = 1000 e-0.0231 x300 = 1000 e -6.93 = 1000 x9.78 x 10-4 = 0.978 gram

http://users.tpg.com.au/moynham/appofcalculus.htm 7
 Example: Exponential Growth
• The population of a town is increasing at an annual rate of 6%. If
the population now is 30 000, what will it be in 12 years time?

• Answer:

• The first step is to convert the percentage to a decimal. 6% = 0.06

• N = Noekt N = 30 000e0.06 x 12 = 30 000e0.72

• N = 61633
http://users.tpg.com.au/moynham/appofcalculus.htm 8