6.

5 Exponential and
Logarithmic Equations and
Inequalities

A LWAY S L E A R N I N G Copyright © 2019, 2015, 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Slide 1

Properties of Logarithmic and
Exponential Functions
For b > 0 and b  1,
1. bx = by if and only if x = y.
2. If x > 0 and y > 0, then logb x = logb y if and
only if x = y.

A LWAY S L E A R N I N G Copyright © 2019, 2015, 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Slide 2

Exponential Equations and
Inequalities (Type 2)
Type I Exponential Equations
Solved in a previous section.
Easily written as powers of same base
i.e. 125x = 5x

Type 2 Exponential Equations

Cannot be easily written as powers of same base
i.e 7x = 12
General strategy: take the logarithm of both sides
and apply the power rule to eliminate variable
exponents.
A LWAY S L E A R N I N G Copyright © 2019, 2015, 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Slide 3
 Solving a Type 2 Exponential
Example:
Equation (1 of 2)
Solve 7x = 12. Give exact and approximate
solutions. 7 x  12
ln 7 x  ln12
x ln 7  ln12
ln12
x
ln 7
x  1.277
 ln12   log12 
The exact solution set is  ln 7  , or  ,
   log 7 
the approximate solution is 1.277.
A LWAY S L E A R N I N G Copyright © 2019, 2015, 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Slide 4
 Solving a Type 2 Exponential
Example:
Equation (2 of 2)
Graphing Calculator Solution
Using the intersection-of-graphs method, we
graph Y1 = 7x and Y2 = 12. The X-coordinate of
the point of intersection is approximately 1.277,
as illustrated.

A LWAY S L E A R N I N G Copyright © 2019, 2015, 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Slide 5

 Solving a Type 2 Exponential
Example:
Inequality (1 of 2)
a. Solve 7x < 12. Give exact and approximate
answers.
Because the graph of Y1 = 7x is below the graph
ln12
of Y2 = 12 for all X-values less than  1.277,
ln 7
the solution set is
 ln12 
 ,  , or  ,1.277  .
 ln 7 

A LWAY S L E A R N I N G Copyright © 2019, 2015, 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Slide 6

 Solving a Type 2 Exponential
Example:
Inequality (2 of 2)
b. Solve 7x > 12. Give exact and approximate
answers.
This inequality is equivalent to 7x − 12 > 0.
Because the graph of Y3 = 7x − 12 is above the
X-axis for all values of X greater than ln12  1.277,
the solution set is ln 7
 ln12 
 ,   , or  1.277,   .
 ln 7 

A LWAY S L E A R N I N G Copyright © 2019, 2015, 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Slide 7

 Solving a Type 2 Exponential
Example:
Equation
3 x 1 4 x
Solve 2 3 .
log 23 x1  log34 x
(3 x  1)log 2  (4  x)log3
3 x log 2  log 2  4log3  x log3
3 x log 2  x log3  4log3  log 2
x(3log 2  log3)  4log3  log 2
4log3  log 2
x
3log 2  log3

x ≈ 1.165

A LWAY S L E A R N I N G Copyright © 2019, 2015, 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Slide 8

 Solving a Logarithmic
Example:
Equation (1 of 4)
Solve log 3 ( x  6)  log 3 ( x  2)  log 3 x.
The domain must satisfy x + 6 > 0,
x + 2 > 0, and x > 0. The intersection of these is
(0,).
log3 ( x  6)  log 3 ( x  2)  log 3 x
x6
log3  log 3 x
x2
x6
x
x2

A LWAY S L E A R N I N G Copyright © 2019, 2015, 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Slide 9

 Solving a Logarithmic
Example:
Equation (2 of 4)
x  6  x ( x  2)
x  6  x  2x 2

0  x  x62

0  ( x  3)( x  2)
x  3 or x2

Since the domain of the original equation was

(0,), x = –3 cannot be a solution. The solution
set is {2}.
A LWAY S L E A R N I N G Copyright © 2019, 2015, 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Slide 10
 Solving a Logarithmic
Example:
Equation (3 of 4)
Graphing Calculator Solution
The figure (on the next slide) shows that the
X-coordinate of the point of intersection of the
graphs of Y1 = log3 (X + 6) − log3 (X + 2) and
Y2 = log3 X is 2, which agrees with our analytic
solution.
Notice that the graphs do not intersect when
X = −3, supporting the conclusion in the analytic
solution that −3 is an extraneous value.

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 Solving a Logarithmic
Example:
Equation (4 of 4)

A LWAY S L E A R N I N G Copyright © 2019, 2015, 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Slide 12

 Solving a Logarithmic
Example:
Equation (1 of 2)
Solve log(3 x  2)  log( x  1)  1.
log  (3 x  2)( x  1)   1
(3 x  2)( x  1)  101
3 x 2  x  2  10
3 x 2  x  12  0
Using the quadratic formula:

b  b 2  4ac (1)  (1) 2  4(3)(12) 1  145

x  
2a 2(3) 6
A LWAY S L E A R N I N G Copyright © 2019, 2015, 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Slide 13
 Solving a Logarithmic
Example:
Equation (2 of 2)
1  145
Because  1.840 is less than 1, it is
6
not in the domain and must be rejected, giving
1  145 
the solution set  .
 6 
The domain is (1, ∞).
The graphing calculator
supports the analytic
result.

A LWAY S L E A R N I N G Copyright © 2019, 2015, 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Slide 14

 Solving an Equation and
Example:
Associated Inequalities (1 of 3)
Consider the function ƒ(x) = 3 log2 (2x) – 15.
Solve the equation in (a) analytically and solve
the inequalities in (b) and (c) graphically.
a) ƒ(x) = 0 b) ƒ(x)< 0 c) ƒ(x) ≥ 0
a) 3log 2 (2 x)  15  0
3log 2 (2 x)  15
log 2 (2 x)  5
2 x  25
x  16
The solution set is {16}.
A LWAY S L E A R N I N G Copyright © 2019, 2015, 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Slide 15
 Solving an Equation and
Example:
Associated Inequalities (2 of 3)
b) We enter Y1 = 3 log2 (2X) – 15 and observe
its graph.
Domain:  0, 
Y-axis is the vertical
asymptote. The
graph lies below the
X-axis for values
between 0 and 16,
so the solution set
is (0, 16).

A LWAY S L E A R N I N G Copyright © 2019, 2015, 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Slide 16

 Solving an Equation and
Example:
Associated Inequalities (3 of 3)
c) From the graph, Y1 ≥ 0 for X ≥ 16. Thus, the
solution set is [16, ∞).

A LWAY S L E A R N I N G Copyright © 2019, 2015, 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Slide 17

 Solving a More Complicated
Example:
Exponential Equation
2ln x
Solve e  161 .
2ln x 1
e 
16
ln x 2 1
e 
16
2 1
x  An analytic check
16
shows that 4 is indeed
2 2
x 4 a solution. The solution
x4 set is {4}.
A LWAY S L E A R N I N G Copyright © 2019, 2015, 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Slide 18
 Solving a More Complicated
Example:
Logarithmic Equation
Solve ln e ln x
 ln  x  3   ln2.
ln x  ln  x  3   ln2
x
ln  ln2
x 3
x
2
x 3 The solution
x  2x  6 checks. The
solution set
 x  6 is {6}.
x6
A LWAY S L E A R N I N G Copyright © 2019, 2015, 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Slide 19
 Solving an Equation
Example:
Quadratic in Form (1 of 2)
Solve e 2x
 4e x
 3  0.
e 2 x  4e x  3  0
(e x )2  4(e x )  3  0
u 2  4u  3  0
(u  1)(u  3)  0

u 1 u3
ex  1 ex  3 The values
x  ln1 x  ln3 check, and the
x  ln3 solution set is
x 0
{0, ln 3}.

A LWAY S L E A R N I N G Copyright © 2019, 2015, 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Slide 20

 Solving an Equation
Example:
Quadratic in Form (2 of 2)
In the figure we see that the graph of
Y1 = e2X – 4eX + 3 has zeros of 0 and
ln 3 ≈ 1.098613.

A LWAY S L E A R N I N G Copyright © 2019, 2015, 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Slide 21

Solving Exponential and
Logarithmic Equations
An exponential or logarithmic equation can be
solved by changing the equation into one of the
following forms, where a and b are real numbers,
a > 0, and a  1:
1. af(x) = b
Solve by taking the logarithm of each side.
2. loga f(x) = loga g (x)
Solve f(x) = g (x) analytically.
3. loga f(x) = b
Solve by changing to exponential form f(x) = ab.

A LWAY S L E A R N I N G Copyright © 2019, 2015, 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Slide 22

 Solving an Exponential Formula
Example: from Psychology (1 of 2)

The strength of a habit is a function of the

number of times the habit is repeated. If N is the
number of repetitions and H is the strength of
the habit, then, according to psychologist C. L.
Hull,
H  1000  1  e
 kN
,
where k is the constant. Solve this formula for k.

A LWAY S L E A R N I N G Copyright © 2019, 2015, 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Slide 23

 Solving an Exponential Formula
Example: from Psychology (2 of 2)
H  1000  1  e  kN 
H
 1  e  kN
1000
H
 1  e  kN
1000
 kN H
e  1
1000
 H 
ln e  kN  ln 1  
 1000 

 H  1  H 
kN  ln 1   k   ln 1  
 1000  N  1000 

A LWAY S L E A R N I N G Copyright © 2019, 2015, 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Slide 24

 Modeling the Life Span of a
Example:
Robin (1 of 2)
A study monitored the life spans of 129 robins over
a 4-year period. The equation
2  log  100  x 
y
0.42
was developed to calculate the number of years y it
takes for x percent of the robin population to die.
How many robins had dies after 6 months?
6
Let y   0.5 year, and solve the equation for x.
12

A LWAY S L E A R N I N G Copyright © 2019, 2015, 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Slide 25

 Modeling the Life Span of a
Example:
Robin (2 of 2)
2  log  100  x 
y
0.42
2  log  100  x 
0.5 
0.42
0.21  2  log(100  x)
log(100  x)  1.79
101.79  100  x
x  100  10 1.79

x  38.3
About 38% of the robins had died after 6 months.
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