WS07.

02 Exponential Functions
Aim: To study the properties of exponential functions and learn the features of their graphs

Section A – Activity 1: The Exponential Function, f(x)  2x .

1. For f(x)  2x :

(i) The base of f(x)  2x is

(ii) The exponent of f(x)  2x is

(iii) What is varying in the function f(x)  2x ?

(iv) What is constant in the function f(x)  2x ?

2. For f(x)  2x :
What are the possible inputs i.e. values for x (the domain)?
Natural numbers Irrational numbers
Integers Real numbers
Rational numbers

3. Set up a table of values and draw the graph of f(x)  2x on your whiteboard:

X 2x y  f(x)
4 24
1
16

3
2
1
0
1
2
3
4
4. Describe the graph of f(x)  2x :

(i) Is it a straight line?

(ii) Is y  f(x) increasing or decreasing as x increases?

(iii) From the table above, find the average rate of change over different intervals.
For example from  2 to  1 and 2 to 3.

What do you notice?

(iv) Describe how the curvature/rate of change is changing.

–4–
5. For f(x)  2x :

(i) What are the possible outputs (range) for f(x)  2x .

(ii) Is it possible to have negative outputs? Explain why?

(iii) What happens to the output as x decreases?

(iv) Is an output of 0 possible? Why do you think this is?

(v) What are the implications of this for the x-intercept of the graph?

(vi) What is the y-intercept of the graph of f(x)  2x ?

–5–
Section A – Activity 2: The Exponential Function, g(x)  3x .

1. For g(x)  3x :

(i) The base of g(x)  3x is

(ii) The exponent of g(x)  3x is

(iii) What is varying in the function g(x)  3x ?

(iv) What is constant in the function g(x)  3x ?

2. For g(x)  3x :
What are the possible inputs i.e. values for x (the domain)?
Natural numbers Irrational numbers
Integers Real numbers
Rational numbers

3. Set up a table of values and draw the graph of g(x)  3x on your whiteboard:

X 3x y  g(x)
4 34 1
81

3
2
1
0
1
2
3
4
4. In relation to the graph of g(x)  3x :

(i) Is it a straight line?

(ii) Is y  g(x) increasing or decreasing as x increases?

(iii) From the table above, find the average rate of change over different intervals.
For example from  2 to  1 and 2 to 3.

What do you notice?

(iv) Describe how the curvature/rate of change is changing.

–6–
5. For g(x)  3x :

(i) What are the possible outputs (range) for g(x)  3x.

(ii) Is it possible to have negative outputs? Explain why?

(iii) What happens to the output as x decreases?

(iv) Is an output of 0 possible? Why do you think this is?

(v) What are the implications of this for the x-intercept of the graph?

(vi) What is the y-intercept of the graph of g(x)  3x ?

–7–
Section A – Activity 3: Compare the graph of f(x)  2x with the graph of g(x)  3x .

1. How are they similar and how do they differ?


2. Consider the relations (x, y) x  , y  , y  2x  and (x, y) x  
, y  , y  3x .

Are they functions? Explain.

3. What name do you think is given to this type of function and why do you think it is given this
name?

Section A – Activity 4: Understand the characteristics of f(x)  a x , a  1.

1. What is the domain of f(x)  a x , a  1?

2. In relation to the graph of f(x)  a x , a  1.

(i) Is it a straight line?

(ii) Is y  f(x) increasing or decreasing as x increases?

(iii) Does it have a maximum value?

(iv) Does it have a minimum value?

(v) Describe how its curvature/rate of change is changing.

3. What is the range of f(x)  a x , a  1?

4. What is the x–intercept of the graph f(x)  a x , a  1?

5. What is the y–intercept of the graph f(x)  a x , a  1?

–8–
 x
 1
Section B – Activity 1: The Exponential Function, f (x)    .
2
x
 1
1. For f (x)    :
2
x
 1
(i) The base of f (x)    is
2
x
 1
(ii) The exponent of f (x)    is
2
x
 1
(iii) What is varying in the function f (x)    ?
2
x
 1
(iv) What is constant in the function f (x)    ?
2

x
 1
2. For f (x)    :
2
What are the possible inputs i.e. values for x (the domain)?
Natural numbers Irrational numbers
Integers Real numbers
Rational numbers

3. x
 1
Set up a table of values and draw the graph of f (x)    on your whiteboard:
2

 12 
x
X y  f(x)

 12 
4
4 16

3
2
1
0
1
2
3
4

–9–
 x
 1
4. In relation to the graph of f (x)    :
2

(i) Is it a straight line?

(ii) Is y  f(x) increasing or decreasing as x increases?

(iii) From the table above, find the average rate of change over different intervals.
For example from  2 to  1 and 2 to 3.

What do you notice?

(iv) Describe how the curvature/rate of change is changing.

x
 1
5. For f (x)    :
2
x
 1
(i) What are the possible outputs (range) for f (x)    .
2

(ii) Is it possible to have negative outputs? Explain why?

(iii) What happens to the output as x decreases?

(iv) Is an output of 0 possible? Why do you think this is?

(v) What are the implications of this for the x-intercept of the graph?

x
 1
(vi) What is the y-intercept of the graph of f (x)    ?
2

– 10 –
 x
 1
Section B – Activity 2: The Exponential Function, g(x)    .
3
x
 1
1. For g(x)    :
3
x
 1
(i) The base of g(x)    is
3
x
 1
(ii) The exponent of g(x)    is
3
x
 1
(iii) What is varying in the function g(x)    ?
3
x
 1
(iv) What is constant in the function g(x)    ?
3

x
 1
2. For g(x)    :
3
What are the possible inputs i.e. values for x (the domain)?
Natural numbers Irrational numbers
Integers Real numbers
Rational numbers

3. x
 1
Set up a table of values and draw the graph of g(x)    below on your whiteboard:
3

 
x
X 1 y  g(x)
3

 13 
4
4 81

3
2
1
0
1
2
3
4

– 11 –
 x
 1
4. In relation to the graph of g(x)    :
3

(i) Is it a straight line?

(ii) Is y increasing or decreasing as x increases?

(iii) From the table above, find the average rate of change over different intervals.
For example from  2 to  1 and 2 to 3.

What do you notice?

(iv) Describe how the curvature/rate of change is changing.

x
 1
5. For g(x)    :
3
x
 1
(i) What are the possible outputs (range) for g(x)    .
3

(ii) Is it possible to have negative outputs? Explain why?

(iii) What happens to the output as x decreases?

(iv) Is an output of 0 possible? Why do you think this is?

(v) What are the implications of this for the x-intercept of the graph?

x
 1
(vi) What is the y-intercept of the graph of g(x)    ?
3

– 12 –
 x x
 1  1
Section B – Activity 3: Compare the graph of f (x)    with the graph of g(x)    .
2 3

1. How are they the same and how do they differ?


  1 
x
 
  1 
x

2. Consider the relations (x, y ) x  , y  , y     and (x, y ) x  , y  , y     .

 2   
 3  

Are they functions? Explain.

3. What name do you think we give to this type of function and why do you think it is given this
name?

Section B – Activity 4: Understand the characteristics of f(x)  a x , 0  a  1.

1. What is the domain of f(x)  a x , 0  a  1?

In relation to the graph of
2. f(x)  a x , 0  a  1.

(i) Is it a straight line?

(ii) Is y  f(x) increasing or decreasing as x increases?

(iii) Does it have a maximum value?

(iv) Does it have a minimum value?

(iv) Describe how its curvature/rate of change is changing.

3. What is the range of f(x)  a x , 0  a  1?

4. What is the x–intercept of the graph f(x)  a x , 0  a  1?

5. What is the y–intercept of the graph f(x)  a x , 0  a  1?

– 13 –
 Note: For all the following, you should assume that the domain is .
x
1
Section C – Activity 1: Compare the graph of f ( x)  2x with the graph of f ( x)    .
2

1. How are the graphs similar?

2. How are the graphs different?

x
 1
3. Rewrite f (x)    in the form f (x)  2k.
2
x
 1
4. What transformation maps the graph of f (x)  2 x onto the graph of f(x)    ?
2

x
1
Section C – Activity 2: Compare the graph of g( x)  3 with the graph of g(x)    .
x

3

1. How are the graphs similar?

2. How do the graphs differ?

x
 1
3. Rewrite g(x)    in the form g(x)  3k.
3
x
 1
4. What transformation maps the graph of g(x)  3 onto the graph of g(x)    ?
x

3

– 14 –
Section C – Activity 3: Now I see...

1. If f(x)  a x , a  , a  1, then the properties of the exponential function are:

2. If f(x)  a x , a  , a  1, then the features of the exponential graph are:

3. If f(x)  a x , a  , 0  a  1, then the properties of the exponential function are:

4. If f(x)  a x , a  , 0  a  1, then the features of the exponential graph are:

– 15 –
Section C – Activity 4: Which of the following equations represent exponential functions?

Is it an exponential
Function Function? Reason
Yes/No
x
 1
f ( x)   
2

f ( x)  x 2

f(x)  (2)x

f(x)  2(3)x

f(x)  2x

1
f (x)  3(x) 2

f(x)  (0.9)x

– 16 –
Problem Solving Questions on Exponential Functions

Note: Extension Activities are required to strengthen students’ abilities in the following areas from
the syllabus:

Level Syllabus Page

JCHL f(x)  a2 and f(x)  a3 , where a  , x  .
x x
Page 31
LCFL f(x)  a2x and f(x)  a3x , where a  , x  . Page 32
LCOL f(x)  abx , where a  , b, x  . Page 32
LCHL f(x)  ab x , where a, b, x  . Page 32

1. A cell divides itself into two every day. The number of cells C after D days is obtained from
the function:
C  2D

(a) Draw a graph of the function for 0  D  6.

(b) Find the number of cells after 15 days.

2. The value of a mobile phone M (in cents) after T years can be obtained from the following
function:
T
 1
M  k   ,where k is a constant.
2

(a) Draw a graph of the function for 0  T  6.

(b) Find the value of k given that the value of the mobile phone after 3 years is €100.
(c) Find the value of the phone after 7 years.

3. The number of bacteria B in a sample after starting an experiment for m minutes is given by:
B  50(3)0.04 m
(a) Find the number of bacteria in the sample at the start of the experiment.
(b) Find the number of bacteria in the sample after starting the experiment for 3 hours.

4. The graph of f(x)  ka x is shown:

(a) Find the value of k and a.
(b) Hence find the value of f (x)
when x  8.

– 17 –
Q5. Olive finds that the number of bacteria in a sample doubles every 5 hours. Originally there are
8 bacteria in the sample.

Complete the table below:

Number Number
of hours (hrs.) of bacteria (b)
0 8
5
10
15

(a) Express b in terms of h.

(b) Find the number of bacteria in the sample after 13 hours.
(c) How many hours later will the number of bacteria be more than 100.

Q6. When a microwave oven is turned on for x minutes the relationship between the temperature
C inside the oven is given by C(x)  500  480(0.9) where x  0 .
x

(a) Find the value of C(0).

(b) Explain the meaning of C(0).
(c) Can the temperature inside the microwave oven reach 550 C  ?

Answers
h

Q1 (b) 32,768 cells, Q2 (b) €800 (c) €6.25, Q3 (a) 50 (b) 136,220 bacteria, Q4 (a) k  2, a  3 (b) 13,122, Q5 (b) b  8(2)5 (c) 48 bacteria

(d) 18.22 hrs., Q6 (a) 20o C (c) No

– 18 –
WS07.03 Looking at Exponential Functions in Another Way

pH

Absorption
Compound of drugs in
interest the body

?
Google
Ranking of Sound levels
pages

Comparing
Astronomical
earthquake
calculations
sizes
Simplifying
graphical
analysis

– 19 –
Activity 1 Making the Most of a Euro
Invest €1 for 1 year at 100% compound Interest.

Investigate the change in the final value, if the annual interest rate of 100% is
compounded over smaller and smaller time intervals.

The interest rate i per compounding period is calculated by dividing the annual
rate of 100% by the number of compounding periods per year.

Compounding Final value, F  P(1  i)t , where i is the interest rate for a given compounding period
period
and t is the number of compounding periods per year.
Calculate F correct to 8 decimal places.

Yearly
F  1(1  1)1  2
i 1
Every 6 mths. 2
 1
1 F  1 1    2.25
i  2
2
Every 3 mths.
i

Every mth.
i

Every week.
i

Every day.
i

Every hour.
i
Every minute.
i

Every second.
i

What if the compounding period was 1 millisecond (10 3 s), 1 microsecond (10 6 s) or 1 nanosecond
(10 9 s) ? What difference would it make?

Will F ever reach 3? How about 2.8?

– 20 –
Activity 2 Further Exploration of Exponential Functions

1. How long will it take for a sum of money to double if invested at 20% compound interest rate
compounded annually?

2. 500 mg of a medicine enters a patient’s blood stream at noon and decays exponentially at a
rate of 15% per hour.
(i) Write an equation to express the amount remaining in the patient’s blood stream at
after t hours.
(ii) Find the time when only 25 mg of the original amount of medicine remains active.

3.
x 2x y
(a) Describe the type of sequence
formed by the numbers in the first
0 20 1
column.

1 21 2

2 22 4

(b) Describe the type of sequence

3 23 8
formed by the numbers in the
second and third columns.
4 24 16

5 25 32
(c) Using the table, and your
6 64 knowledge of indices, carry out the
26
following operations of
multiplication and division in the
7 27 128 second sequence, linking the
answer to numbers in the first
8 28 256 sequence.
(i) 32  128
9 29 512

(ii) 4096  512

10 210 1024

11 211 2048
(iii) 84

12 212 4096

x 2x y x 2x y
13
13 2 8,192 23 223 838,8608
14 214 16,384 24 224 16,777,216
15 215 32,768 25 225 33,554,432
16 216 65,536 26 226 67,108,864
17 217 13,1072 27 227 134,217,728
18 218 262,144 28 228 268,435,456
19 219 524,288 29 229 536,870,912
20 220 1,048,576 30 230 1,073,741,824
21 221 2,097,152 31 231 2,147,483,648
22 222 419,4304 32 232 4,294,967,296

– 21 –
Using Different Bases

x 3x x 4x x 5x x 6x x 10 x

0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1
1 3 1 4 1 5 1 6 1 10
2 9 2 16 2 25 2 36 2 100
3 27 3 64 3 125 3 216 3 1,000
4 81 4 256 4 625 4 1,296 4 10,000
5 243 5 1,024 5 3,125 5 7,776 5 100,000
6 729 6 4,096 6 15,625 6 46,656 6 1,000,000
7 2,187 7 16,384 7 78,125 7 279,936 7 10,000,000
8 6,561 8 65,536 8 390,625 8 1,679,616 8 100,000,000
9 19,683 9 262,144 9 1,953,125 9 10,077,696 9 1,000,000,000
10 59,049 10 1,048,576 10 9,765,625 10 60,466,176 10 10,000,000,000

x log3 (3x ) x log4 (4 x ) x log5 (5x ) x log6 (6 x ) x log10 (10 x )

1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0
3 1 4 1 5 1 6 1 10 1
9 2 16 2 25 2 36 2 100 2
27 3 64 3 125 3 216 3 1,000 3
81 4 256 4 625 4 1,296 4 10,000 4
243 5 1,024 5 3,125 5 7,776 5 100,000 5
729 6 4,096 6 15,625 6 46,656 6 1,000,000 6
2,187 7 16,384 7 78,125 7 279,936 7 10,000,000 7
6,561 8 65,536 8 390,625 8 1,679,616 8 100,000,000 8
19,683 9 262,144 9 1,953,125 9 10,077,696 9 1,000,000,000 9
59,049 10 1,048,576 10 9,765,625 10 60,466,176 10 10,000,000,000 10

Formula and Tables Page 21

Séana agus logartaim Indices and logarithms

a a a
p q pq
log a  xy   log a x  log a y a x  y  log a y  x
ap x log a (a x )  x
q
 a pq log a    log a x  log a y
a  y
a  p q
 a pq  
log a x q  q log a x a log a x  x

a0  1 log a 1  0
log a x
a p 
1 1 log b x 
log a     log a x log a b
ap  x
1

a  aq q

 a
p
aq  ap 
q q

 ab   a pb p
p

p
a ap
   p
b b

– 22 –