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Barnfm10e PPT 2 2
Barnfm10e PPT 2 2
The equation f ( x) b x
defines the exponential function with
base b . The domain is the set of all real
numbers, while the range is the set of all
positive real numbers
( y > 0). Note y cannot equal to zero.
Riddle
Here is a problem related to exponential functions:
Suppose you received a penny on the first day of
December, two pennies on the second day of December,
four pennies on the third day, eight pennies on the
fourth day and so on. How many pennies would you
receive on December 31 if this pattern continues?
2) Would you rather take this amount of money or
receive a lump sum payment of $10,000,000?
Solution (Complete the table)
Day No.
pennies
1 1
2 2 2^1
3 4 2^2
4 8 2^3
5 16
6 32
7 64
Generalization
Now, if this pattern continued, how many
pennies would you have on Dec. 31?
Your answer should be 2^30 ( two raised to
the thirtieth power). The exponent on two is
one less than the day of the month. See the
preceding slide.
What is 2^30?
1,073,741,824 pennies!!! Move the decimal
point two places to the left to find the amount
in dollars. You should get: $10,737,418.24
Solution, continued
The obvious answer to question two is to take
the number of pennies on December 31 and
not a lump sum payment of $10,000,000
(although, I would not mind having either
amount!)
This example shows how an exponential
function grows extremely rapidly. In this case,
the exponential function f ( x) 2 x
x y
-4 1 1
24 4
2
1 16
-3 23
8
-2 2 1
2
4
-1 1 1
2
2
0
2 1 0
1
21 2
2
2 4
2
Graph of y = f ( x ) 2
x
Characteristics of the graphs of f ( x) b x
where b> 1
12
10
8
graph of y = 2^(-x)
6
approaches the positive x-axis as x gets large
4
0
-4 -2 0 2 4
Graphing other exponential
functions
Now, let’s graph f ( x) 3 x
20
15 Series1
10
0
-4 -2 0 2 4
Other exponential graphs
This is the graph of
x
f ( x) 4
It is symmetric to the
graph of f ( x ) 4 x
with respect to the y-
axis
Notice that it is always
decreasing.
It also passes through
(0,1).
Exponential function with base e
The table to the left
1 2 illustrates what happens
to the expression
10 2.59374246 x
1
( 1
100 2.704813829
1 x
+
1000 2.716923932
1 as x gets increasingly
/ larger. As we can see
x
10000 2.718145927 from the table, the values
)
approach a number
^
whose approximation is
1000000 2.718280469
x
2.718
Leonard Euler
x
Leonard Euler first demonstrated that 1 1
x
will approach a fixed constant we now call “e”.
So much of our mathematical notation is due to Euler
that it will come as no surprise to find that the
notation e for this number is due to him. The claim
which has sometimes been made, however, that Euler
used the letter e because it was the first letter of his
name is ridiculous. It is probably not even the case
that the e comes from "exponential", but it may have
just be the next vowel after "a" and Euler was already
using the notation "a" in his work. Whatever the
reason, the notation e made its first appearance in a
letter Euler wrote to Goldbach in 1731.
(http://www-gap.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/HistTopics/e.html#s19)
Leonard Euler
He made various discoveries
regarding e in the following
years, but it was not until 1748
when Euler published
Introductio in Analysis in
infinitorum that he gave a full
treatment of the ideas
surrounding e. He showed that
e = 1 + 1/1! + 1/2! + 1/3!
+ ...