3.

8 Exponential Growth and Decay

Department of Mathematics and Statistics, McMaster University

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Table of Contents

1 Guidelines and objectives

2 Math Content
What are the laws of natural growth and decay?
Some examples

3 Summary

4 Further Discussion Questions

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Guidelines and objectives

Guidelines
get ready to take notes,
prepare questions for your instructor or TA, and
get ready to answer some questions.

Questions in magenta are prompts, and they are not part of the quiz.

Objectives
By the end of this video, you should be able to
explain what the law of natural growth and the law of natural decay are,
outline some applications of the law of natural growth and the law of natural decay in
biology, chemistry, physics, and finance, and
analyze a number of practical problems involving the laws of natural growth and decay.

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Table of Contents

1 Guidelines and objectives

2 Math Content
What are the laws of natural growth and decay?
Some examples

3 Summary

4 Further Discussion Questions

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What are the laws of natural growth and decay?

y 0 = ky.
growth: k > 0, decay: k < 0.

Looks familiar, doesn’t it?!

y = y(0)ekt .

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From Biology

Population Growth (based on Example 1)

Assume that the relative growth rate of the world population is constant. Estimate the
world population in 1993 and predict the world population in 2022 by using the fact that
the world population was 2, 560 million in 1950 and 3, 040 million in 1960.

Do you want to get more out of your program? Try this problem before checking the
solution!
Solution.

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Continuation

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Quiz: Question 1 (out of 5)

From the list of practice problems

Answer: (a) P (t) = 100(4.2)t , (b) ≈ 7409 bacteria, (c) ≈ 10, 632 bacteria/h, (d) ≈ 3.2 hours.

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From Chemistry

Radioactive Decay (based on Example 2)

The half-life of radium-226 is 1590 years. A sample of radium-226 has a mass of 100mg.
(a) Find a formula for the mass of the sample that remains after t years. (b) Find the
mass of the sample that remains after 1000 years correct to the nearest milligram.
(c) When will the mass of the sample that remains be reduced by 70 mg?

Maybe it is good to give this a shot before checking the solution!

Solution.

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Continuation

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Quiz: Question 2 (out of 5)

From the list of practice problems

Answer: approximately 2489 years.

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From Physics

Newton’s Law of Cooling (based on Exercise 17)

When a bottle of cider is taken from the refrigerator, its temperature is 5◦ C. After 25m
in a 20◦ C room its temperature has increased to 10◦ C. (a) What is the temperature of
the cider after 50m? (b) When will its temperature be 15◦ C?

Do you want to get good grades? Try things yourself first!

Solution.

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Continuation

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Quiz: Question 3 (out of 5)

From the textbook

Answer: the murder took place approximately at 11.55AM.

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From Finance

Compounded Interest (Based on Example 4)

If $1000 is invested at 6% interest, find the value of the investment at the end of 3 years
if the interest is compounded (a) annually, (b) semiannually, (c) quarterly, (d) monthly,
(e) daily, and (f) continuously.

Are you trying this first?

Solution.

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Continuation

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17 / 22 Lorena Aguirre Salazar Introduction to Differential Equations
Answer: (a) Approx: (i) 3829, (ii) 3840, (iii) 3850, (iv) 3852, (v) 3852, (vi) ≈ 3852. (b) A0 = 0.05A, A(0) = 3000.
From the textbook
Quiz: Question 4 (out of 5)
Quiz: Question 5 (out of 5)

True or False?
The law of natural growth can be interpreted as a mathematical model that is
accurate in population dynamics over long periods of time.
The laws of natural growth and decay can be applied to study population growth,
radioactive decay, cooling of objects, and compounded interest in investments.
There is nothing to study about a phenomenon once solutions to the
corresponding mathematical model are found.

Answer: F;T;F.

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Table of Contents

1 Guidelines and objectives

2 Math Content
What are the laws of natural growth and decay?
Some examples

3 Summary

4 Further Discussion Questions

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Summary

The law of natural growth corresponds to y 0 = ky with k > 0, while the law of
natural decay corresponds to y 0 = ky with k < 0.
The laws of natural growth and decay can be applied to study population growth,
radioactive decay, cooling of objects, and compounded interest in investments.
We can study numerous real-world phenomena by analyzing solutions to
corresponding mathematical models. We can find those solutions if models are
simple enough.

For more information, please take a look at Section 3.8 from our textbook.

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Table of Contents

1 Guidelines and objectives

2 Math Content
What are the laws of natural growth and decay?
Some examples

3 Summary

4 Further Discussion Questions

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Further Discussion Questions

1 From the textbook:

2 (if there is time) One of the questions from the quiz.

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