Mr.

Bonanomi’s Rambling Questions on the Nature of Exponential and Logarithmic Functions

In general, the chapter on Exponential and Logarithmic functions is necessary to give students
the ability to work with the following sorts of questions, which are described in broad terms:

• Demonstrate your ability to understand the relationship between logarithmic, power, and
radical statements, as well as the basic meaning of each.
• Be able to apply the rules of logarithms to simplify and evaluate expressions and to be able to
recognize expressions that are equal to one another.
• Solve equations in which exponential terms are present.
• Solve equations in which logarithm notation is used.
• Be able to graph exponential functions and to recognize exponential functions from graphs.
• Be able to graph logarithmic functions and to recognize logarithmic functions from graphs.
• Model quantities that are growing or decaying exponentially. Note that logarithms are still
useful here even though the quantities are related by exponentials because logarithms are just
another way to write exponentials!
• Demonstrate knowledge of the properties of these types of functions, including their domains,
ranges, asymptotic behaviors, and the equivalence between different types of transformations.
• Demonstrate knowledge of the fact that, so long as we are willing to accept the use of irrational
exponents, all positive real numbers are powers of all other positive real numbers.

Because these major points are all important, I will attempt to organize my questions according
to them.

Demonstrate your ability to understand the relationship between logarithmic, power, and radical
statements, as well as the basic meaning of each.
1
1. Write the true statement 6−4 = as a logarithm statement.
1296

1
log 6 � � = −4
1296
2. Write the true statement log 5 125 = 3 as a power statement.

53 = 125

3. Using the basic meaning of logarithm, explain why 𝑎𝑎log𝑎𝑎 (𝑏𝑏) must have the value 𝑏𝑏.

The meaning of the number log 𝑎𝑎 (𝑏𝑏) is that it is the number you must raise 𝑎𝑎 to in order
to get the value 𝑏𝑏. As such, if you actually raise the number 𝑎𝑎 to that power, then you
must get the value 𝑏𝑏. This is just the meaning of what the logarithm is.

Alternatively, let’s say that you started with the statement log 𝑎𝑎 (𝑏𝑏) = log 𝑎𝑎 (𝑏𝑏), which is
an obvious tautology. If you were to write this logarithm statement as a power
 statement, you would have a base of 𝑎𝑎, an exponent of log 𝑎𝑎 (𝑏𝑏), and a power of 𝑏𝑏. As
such, we can write it as a power statement in the form: 𝑎𝑎log𝑎𝑎 𝑏𝑏 = 𝑏𝑏.

4. Evaluate the expression exactly: ln(𝑒𝑒 4.7 )

Because the ln function is the logarithm base 𝑒𝑒, the value of ln(𝑒𝑒 4.7 ) is, by basic
concept, the number you must raise 𝑒𝑒 to in order to get the value 𝑒𝑒 4.7. Obviously, the
number in question here must be 4.7! So, we get ln(𝑒𝑒 4.7 ) = 4.7.

5. Solve the equation for 𝑥𝑥: 5𝑥𝑥 = 12

𝑥𝑥 = log 5 12
6. Solve the equation for 𝑥𝑥: 𝑎𝑎 𝑥𝑥 = 𝑏𝑏

𝑥𝑥 = log 𝑎𝑎 𝑏𝑏
7. Write the number 6 as a power of the number 7.

To write 6 as a power of 7, we must ask ourselves what value of 𝑥𝑥 there is so that 7𝑥𝑥 =
6. Clearly, this is just as with the previous problems, and the value of 𝑥𝑥 is the value 𝑥𝑥 =
log 7 6. So, to write 6 as a power of 7, we write:
6 = 7(log7 6)

Be able to apply the rules of logarithms to simplify and evaluate expressions and to be able to
recognize expressions that are equal to one another.

8. Evaluate each of the following expressions:

a. 5(log5 82)
82
(log25 8)
b. 5
√8
(log5 8−1)
c. 5
8
5
log5 2 �
d. 5log2 �3
Here, we want to make use of the rule that allows us to drop exponents of
logarithm arguments as factors in front of the logarithm (log 𝑎𝑎𝑏𝑏 = 𝑏𝑏 log 𝑎𝑎). So,
we use that rule in the exponent, to write:
5(log5 2⋅log2 3)
Now, we can use the fact that we multiply exponents when we take powers of
𝑐𝑐
powers (�𝑎𝑎𝑏𝑏 � = 𝑎𝑎(𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏)) to rewrite our expression as:
log2 3
�5log5 2 �
Now, we can use the basic concepts of logarithms to evaluate:
log2 3
�5log5 2 � = (2)log2 3 = 3
e. 5log12 1
1
 log𝑎𝑎 𝑐𝑐
f. �𝑎𝑎log𝑐𝑐 (𝑏𝑏) �
We know that we can represent powers of powers by multiplying those
exponents. So, let’s do that, but also then we can commute the multiplication and
therefore the exponents. So,
log𝑎𝑎 𝑐𝑐 log𝑐𝑐 𝑏𝑏
�𝑎𝑎 log𝑐𝑐 (𝑏𝑏) � = �𝑎𝑎log𝑎𝑎 (𝑐𝑐) � = (𝑐𝑐)log𝑐𝑐 𝑏𝑏 = 𝑏𝑏
g. log 3 243
5
3
h. log 3 �√9�
2/3
(81 72 )
i. log 3
288
1
j. log 3 � �
�35
-5/2
(𝑏𝑏 𝑎𝑎 )
k. log 𝑎𝑎
𝑎𝑎 ⋅ log 𝑎𝑎 𝑏𝑏 is the best you can do with this.
l. log 8 √2
1/6
m. log 9 (3𝑎𝑎 )
𝑎𝑎
2
9. Write each of the following expressions as a single logarithm. In other words, find values of 𝑎𝑎
and 𝑏𝑏 so that each of the following expressions is of the form log 𝑎𝑎 𝑏𝑏.
a. log 3 + 2
log 300
b. log 4 𝑥𝑥 + log 2 𝑥𝑥
3
log 2 𝑥𝑥
2
2 log 5+1
c.
log 7
log 7 250
log𝑒𝑒 8
d.
2−ln 6
log �𝑒𝑒 2 /6� (8)
e. ln 5 − log 2 𝑒𝑒
Subtraction of logs OF THE SAME BASE becomes division of their arguments. We
have to convert here. I recommend base 𝑒𝑒.
ln 𝑒𝑒 �
1
� 5
ln 5 − log 2 𝑒𝑒 = ln 5 − = ln 5 − ln �𝑒𝑒 ln 2 � = ln � 1 �
ln 2 � �
𝑒𝑒 ln 2
1
f. (log 𝐴𝐴 − 2 log 𝐵𝐵 + 3 log 𝐶𝐶)
3
1 𝐴𝐴𝐶𝐶 3 3 𝐴𝐴𝐶𝐶 3
Let’s simplify inside first. �log � 𝐵𝐵2 �� = log � 𝐵𝐵2
3
10. Using the rules of logarithms, prove the following logarithm identity:
log 𝑎𝑎 𝑐𝑐
= log 𝑎𝑎 𝑏𝑏
log 𝑏𝑏 𝑐𝑐
 To prove this statement, let us start with the left hand side of the equation and show
that it is equal to the right hand side!
log 𝑐𝑐
log𝑎𝑎 𝑐𝑐 � �
log 𝑎𝑎
1. = log 𝑐𝑐 By the change-of-base formula.
log𝑏𝑏 𝑐𝑐 � �
log 𝑏𝑏
2. Division by a fraction is equal to multiplying by the reciprocal of that fraction, so
log𝑎𝑎 𝑐𝑐 log 𝑐𝑐 log 𝑏𝑏
=� �⋅� �
log𝑏𝑏 𝑐𝑐 log 𝑎𝑎 log 𝑐𝑐
log𝑎𝑎 𝑐𝑐 log 𝑏𝑏
3. The value of log 𝑐𝑐 can be simplified and canceled from the fractions, so = .
log𝑏𝑏 𝑐𝑐 log 𝑎𝑎
4. Finally, we can use the change-of-base formula to rewrite this as:
log 𝑎𝑎 𝑐𝑐
= log 𝑎𝑎 𝑏𝑏
log 𝑏𝑏 𝑐𝑐
11. Using the rules of logarithms, prove the following logarithm identity:
log 𝑎𝑎 �𝑏𝑏 log𝑐𝑐 𝑎𝑎 � = log 𝑐𝑐 𝑏𝑏
To prove this statement, let us start with the left hand side of the equation and show
that it is equal to the right hand side!
1. log 𝑎𝑎 �𝑏𝑏 log𝑐𝑐 𝑎𝑎 � = log 𝑐𝑐 𝑎𝑎 ⋅ log 𝑎𝑎 𝑏𝑏 because of the rule in which the logarithm of a power
is the product of the exponent and the logarithm of the base.
log 𝑎𝑎 log 𝑏𝑏
2. Using the change-of-base formula, log 𝑐𝑐 𝑎𝑎 ⋅ log 𝑎𝑎 𝑏𝑏 becomes ⋅ , so
log 𝑐𝑐 log 𝑎𝑎
log 𝑏𝑏
log 𝑎𝑎 �𝑏𝑏 log𝑐𝑐 𝑎𝑎 � = .
log 𝑐𝑐
log 𝑏𝑏
3. Finally, we can use the change-of-base formula to rewrite as log 𝑐𝑐 𝑏𝑏. So, we
log 𝑐𝑐
finally arrive at log 𝑎𝑎 �𝑏𝑏 log𝑐𝑐 𝑎𝑎 � = log 𝑐𝑐 𝑏𝑏
12. Using the rules of logarithms, prove the following logarithm identity:
log 𝑎𝑎 𝑏𝑏 − log 𝑏𝑏 𝑎𝑎 = (log 𝑎𝑎 𝑏𝑏 − 1)(log 𝑏𝑏 𝑎𝑎 + 1)

Expand the right hand side: log 𝑎𝑎 𝑏𝑏 ⋅ log 𝑏𝑏 𝑎𝑎 + log 𝑎𝑎 𝑏𝑏 − log 𝑏𝑏 𝑎𝑎 − 1. Then, recognizing
that log 𝑎𝑎 𝑏𝑏 and log 𝑏𝑏 𝑎𝑎 are reciprocals of one another allows the first term to reduce to
just be 1. So, the first term cancels with the last term, leaving you with log 𝑎𝑎 𝑏𝑏 − log 𝑏𝑏 𝑎𝑎.

13. Solve the equation for 𝑥𝑥:

32𝑥𝑥−1 − 1 = log 3 9

You can add the 1 across and combine it with the logarithm on the right hand side,
creating the equation 32𝑥𝑥−1 = log 3 27. Converting the log statement to a power
statement is a bad idea here, because the logarithm can just be evaluated! log 3 27 is
just the number 3. So, the equation is essentially 32𝑥𝑥−1 = 3, which can be rewritten as
log 32 3 = 𝑥𝑥 − 1. So, the solution is 𝑥𝑥 = log 32 96, whatever that is. If this bothers you,
you could plug it into a calculator to approximate the value of 𝑥𝑥, which is about 1.317.

Solve equations in which exponential terms are present. Some of these have already been presented,
but here are additional ones.
𝑥𝑥
� +1�
14. Solve for 𝑥𝑥: 3(𝑥𝑥+2) ⋅ 9 3 = 27

A good idea is to write everything base-3. This changes the equation to be:
 2𝑥𝑥
� +2�
3(𝑥𝑥+2) ⋅ 3 3 = 33
This allows you to combine the left hand side into a single power. Then, take the log-
base-3 of each side to compare the exponents.
5𝑥𝑥
� +4� 5𝑥𝑥
3 3 = 33 , which can be used to equate the exponents: + 4 = 3, which is solved by
3
3
𝑥𝑥 = − . There is no worry that this solution could be extraneous! The domain of the
5
exponential function is all of the real numbers.

15. Solve for 𝑥𝑥: 2 + 4(𝑥𝑥−3) = 5

Don’t try to combine the terms on the left. Just subtract across to get 4(𝑥𝑥−3) = 3, which
is easily solved by 𝑥𝑥 = log 4 192.

16. Solve for 𝑥𝑥: 3𝑥𝑥 + 3(𝑥𝑥+log3 2) = 9

There is no rule for adding powers of the same base, except for when those powers also
have the same exponent (and are therefore like terms). We can actually use that! We
can rewrite 3(𝑥𝑥+log3 2) as 3log3 2 ⋅ 3𝑥𝑥 , which is just 2 ⋅ 3𝑥𝑥 . So, the equation is now 3𝑥𝑥 +
2 ⋅ 3𝑥𝑥 = 9. We can combine the left hand side, because the terms there are like terms
(alternatively, you can think of it as factoring out the 3^x). 3 ⋅ 3𝑥𝑥 = 9, which is just
3𝑥𝑥+1 = 9, so 𝑥𝑥 + 1 = 2 and 𝑥𝑥 = 1.
𝑥𝑥
� +1�
17. Solve for 𝑥𝑥: 16 2 − 4𝑥𝑥 = 5

We start by writing both terms on the left as powers of 4, taking our cues from the
previous problem above.
4𝑥𝑥+2 − 4𝑥𝑥 = 5

Then, again, we can write 4𝑥𝑥+2 as 16 ⋅ 4𝑥𝑥 , which allows us to rewrite the expression on
the left side:
16 ⋅ 4𝑥𝑥 − 4𝑥𝑥 = 15 ⋅ 4𝑥𝑥 = 5
1 1
So, 4𝑥𝑥 = . We can easily solve this as 𝑥𝑥 = log 4 � �, or equivalently, 𝑥𝑥 = − log 4 3.
3 3

18. Solve for 𝑥𝑥: 2𝑥𝑥 + 8𝑥𝑥 = 10

This equation can be solved by inspection. 𝑥𝑥 = 1 makes it true. However, it’s harder to
come up with a way of algebraically demonstrating this fact, which can also show that
this solution is unique. To start with, we might notice that the exponential terms both
have bases that are powers of 2. Noticing that, we choose to write them as powers of 2.
2𝑥𝑥 + 23𝑥𝑥 = 10

Now, if we allow 𝑦𝑦 to be 2𝑥𝑥 , we can write this as 𝑦𝑦 + 𝑦𝑦 3 = 10, which is just a cubic
equation. Writing the equation in standard form, we get 𝑦𝑦 3 + 𝑦𝑦 − 10 = 0, and we can
try the rational root theorem to determine solutions. Using the rational root theorem,
we can identify that 𝑥𝑥 = 2 is a root of the equation, and so the equation simplifies to:
(𝑦𝑦 − 2)(𝑦𝑦 2 + 2𝑦𝑦 + 5) = 0
 The quadratic factor here can also be set to zero, yielding 𝑦𝑦 = −1 ± 2𝑖𝑖. Converting back
to 𝑥𝑥, we get 2𝑥𝑥 = 2 or 2𝑥𝑥 = −1 + 2𝑖𝑖 or 2𝑥𝑥 = −1 − 2𝑖𝑖. The first equation is trivially
solved by 𝑥𝑥 = 1. The other two equations might have solutions in the complex numbers,
but such things are beyond the scope of the class. We assume that the inputs for our
exponentials are real, and so the range of an exponential functions is all positive reals.
Neither of these nonreal numbers is a positive real number, and so there are no real
solutions to these other equations. So, the only solution is 𝑥𝑥 = 2.

Solve equations in which logarithmic terms are present. Again, some of these have already been
presented, but here are additional ones.

19. Solve for 𝑥𝑥: log 𝑥𝑥 9 − log 𝑥𝑥 4 = 2

9 9 3
log 𝑥𝑥 9 − log 𝑥𝑥 4 = log 𝑥𝑥 = 2, so 𝑥𝑥 2 = , so 𝑥𝑥 = ± . The negative solution is
4 4 2
extraneous.

20. Solve for 𝑥𝑥: 1 + log 𝑥𝑥 (2𝑥𝑥 − 5) = log 𝑥𝑥 7

Combine the left side into a single log by remembering that 1 = log 𝑥𝑥 𝑥𝑥.
log 𝑥𝑥 �𝑥𝑥(2𝑥𝑥 − 5)� = log 𝑥𝑥 7

Since the log function is one-to-one, the inputs must be equal if the outputs are equal.
7
2𝑥𝑥 2 − 5𝑥𝑥 = 7 is equivalent to 2𝑥𝑥 2 − 5𝑥𝑥 − 7 = 0, or (2𝑥𝑥 − 7)(𝑥𝑥 + 1) = 0, or 𝑥𝑥 = or
2
𝑥𝑥 = −1. The second solution is extraneous.

21. Solve for 𝑥𝑥: 3 + log 3 𝑥𝑥 = log 9 𝑥𝑥

log3 𝑥𝑥 1
Let’s rewrite log 9 𝑥𝑥 using the change of base formula as = log 3 𝑥𝑥. Then, we can
log3 9 2
1 1
subtract this across the equals sign to get 3 + log 3 𝑥𝑥 = 0, or log 3 𝑥𝑥 = −3. Or, even
2 2
−6 1
log 3 𝑥𝑥 = −6. This is trivially rearranged and solved by 𝑥𝑥 = 3 = . We must be sure
729
that the solution is not extraneous! Checking it, we find that it is not.

22. Solve for 𝑥𝑥: ln 𝑥𝑥 4 − ln 𝑥𝑥 − 1 = 0

Add the 1 across and combine the left side into a single logarithm.
𝑥𝑥 4
ln = 1
𝑥𝑥
𝑥𝑥 3 = 𝑒𝑒
3
𝑥𝑥 = √𝑒𝑒
23. Solve for 𝑥𝑥: log 2 𝑥𝑥 = log 𝑥𝑥 2

The left side and the right side are reciprocals of one another. The only numbers that
1
equal their own reciprocals are ±1, so log 2 𝑥𝑥 = ±1, which yields 𝑥𝑥 = 2 or 𝑥𝑥 = 2. Both
are solutions.
 5
24. Solve for 𝑥𝑥: log 5 𝑥𝑥 + log 𝑥𝑥 5 =
2

Once again, we recognize that log 5 𝑥𝑥 is the reciprocal of log 𝑥𝑥 5. So, if 𝑦𝑦 = log 5 𝑥𝑥, then
1 5
the equation becomes 𝑦𝑦 + = . This is equivalent to 2𝑦𝑦 2 − 5𝑦𝑦 + 2 = 0, which is in
𝑦𝑦 2
1 1
turn equivalent to (2𝑦𝑦 − 1)(𝑦𝑦 − 2) = 0. So, 𝑦𝑦 = or 𝑦𝑦 = 2. So, log 5 𝑥𝑥 = or log 5 𝑥𝑥 =
2 2
2. This means, 𝑥𝑥 = √5 or 𝑥𝑥 = 25. Both are solutions.

AT THIS POINT, MR. BONANOMI GOT TIRED AND STOPPED WRITING QUESTIONS, INSTEAD LOOKING
BACK AT PREVIOUS YEARS FOR SIMILAR DOCUMENTS.
Analysis 1 Exponentials and Logarithms

A Compendium of Mr. Bonanomi's Thoughts on Questions

I want to make sure that all of my students are capable of evaluating expressions involving both
exponential statements and logarithmic statements. In fact, I want you to be comfortable when both
appear as well. The laws of exponents and logarithms play heavily in your ability to answer these
questions exactly.

1. Evaluate the expression exactly:

32+log 5 3

2. Evaluate the expression:

(63 )log 46

3. Evaluate the expression:

log 6 ( √3 36)

4. Evaluate the expression:

2 log 3 ( 54 )−log 3 ( 4 )

5. Evaluate the expression:

log 5 (250)−log 8( 2)⋅log 5 (8)

6. Evaluate the expression:

log2 (10)
4

7. Evaluate the expression:

ln (15)⋅log 15(81)
ln (3)

I want to ensure that my students are well-adapted to dealing with logarithmic and exponential
equations as well. Solving these equations involves frequent use of the ability to change from power
expressions to log expressions and back. There are three basic types of questions that happen, ones
where the variable is in the base, the exponent, or is the result of the power. Actually, there's a fourth,
one where the variable is in the base AND is in the power. REMEMBER: check your answers to make
sure that you don't have extraneous solutions. Logarithms cannot have non-positive inputs. Bases
must be positive and (most of the time) not 1. Powers of positive numbers must be positive.
8. Solve the equation for the variable:
log x (2 x−1)=2

9. Solve the equation for the variable:

log 2 x (3−4 x)=2

10. Solve the equation for the variable:

log ( x )+log ( 3 x+13)=1

11.Solve the equation for the variable:

log 8 (x )+log 64 ( x )=4

12. Solve the equation for the variable:

6 x−3−6 x+1=30

13. Solve the equation for the variable a:

b
a =c

14. Solve the equation for the variable b:

b
a =c

15. Solve the equation for the variable:

x
7=5

16. Solve the equation for the variable:

5 x +25 x =30

17. Solve the equation for the variable:

3 x+2+9 x =36
 18. Solve the equation for the variable:
2 +3𝑥𝑥+2
(4𝑥𝑥+3 )𝑥𝑥 + 64 = 5 ⋅ 2𝑥𝑥

Also of importance is your familiarity with graphing the exponential and logarithmic functions,
recognizing that they are inverses, and knowing the properties of these functions, such as their domains
and ranges, and that each is one-to-one and increasing. Of course, transformations can be done to
these functions, as with all functions.

1 𝑥𝑥
19. Graph the equations 𝑦𝑦 = 5𝑥𝑥 and 𝑦𝑦 = � � on the same set of axes.
5

a. Describe the relationship between the two functions in terms of transformations.

20. Graph the equation 𝑦𝑦 = 3 ⋅ 4𝑥𝑥 + 2

a. Find the inverse of the graphed function.

b. Graph that inverse over the same set of axes.

21. Graph the equation 𝑦𝑦 = log 4 ((𝑥𝑥 + 3)5 ).

a. What are the domain and range of the function?

b. Find the inverse function.

c. What are the domain and range of the inverse function?

Lastly, I want to make sure that you are comfortable dealing with the application ideas of exponential
and logarithmic functions. This includes being able to model exponential growth and decay, compound
interest problems, working with logarithmic scales, and other less-definable skills. You will need to
know the various interest formulas. Simple interest: 𝐵𝐵 = 𝑃𝑃(1 + 𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟), Compound Interest Compounded
𝑟𝑟 𝑛𝑛𝑛𝑛
Annually: 𝑃𝑃(1 + 𝑟𝑟)𝑡𝑡 , Compound Interest Compounded 𝑛𝑛 times Annually: 𝑃𝑃 �1 + � , and
𝑛𝑛
Continuously-Compounded Interest: 𝑃𝑃𝑒𝑒 𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟 . You may find it useful to know the half-life formula as well:
1 𝑡𝑡/ℎ
𝐴𝐴(𝑡𝑡) = 𝐼𝐼 ⋅ � � where 𝐴𝐴, 𝐼𝐼, 𝑡𝑡, ℎ are the amount of material, initial amount of material, time, and half-
2
life respectively.

22. You have $8,000 to invest, and can do so in one of four different investments. The Bank offers
continuously compounded interest at an annual percentage rate (APR) of 2.4%. A Hedge Fund
offers Compounded Interest (Compounded monthly) with an APR of 2.2%. The loan shark down
the street offers simple interest with an APR of 5%. Which is the best investment? Explain.

23. A particular isotope of carbon has a half-life of 18 seconds. Some amount of this isotope is
created in a lab, and then the amount is measured 2 seconds afterwards. If the amount is
measured to be 3.7 grams, then how much of the isotope was initially created?

24. The Moment Magnitude scale for earthquakes allows us to translate from a total amount of
energy released by an earthquake to a magnitude (typically from 2-9) that people can
understand to gauge how powerful the earthquake was (because people have an easier time
with numbers that are single-digit integers). In this scale, an increase of two magnitudes on the
Moment Magnitude scale corresponds with a thousandfold increase in energy released by the
earthquake.
a. If the Landers earthquake of 1992 was magnitude 7.3 and the 1960 Valdivia earthquake
had a magnitude of 9.6, how many times more energy was released in the Valdivia
earthquake than the Landers earthquake?
b. If the Valdivia earthquake released 2.81 ⋅ 1023 Joules of energy, then sketch a graph of
moment magnitude versus Joules.
c. Create a formula to translate from magnitude to Joules.
d. Create a formula to translate from Joules to magnitude.
e. The amount of energy required to overcome the gravitational attraction of all the
material of the Earth is ~2 × 1032 Joules. That means that if an earthquake of that
energy occurred, the Earth itself would break apart. What would the magnitude of such
an earthquake be?
f. The smallest supernovae, called Type Ia Supernovae, release about 1.5 × 1044 Joules of
energy. What would the moment-magnitude be of such an event?
g. Two years ago, a student made a sign error on a quiz and reported that some bomb
would create a magnitude 23.5 event. How crazy is this?
1. Evaluate exactly: log 3 27 =

2. Evaluate exactly: log 8 2 =

3. Evaluate exactly: log 5 125 =

4. Evaluate exactly: log10 1,000,000,000 =

5. Evaluate exactly: log 3 94 =

3
6. Evaluate exactly: log 5 √625 =

7. Evaluate exactly: log 2 √32 =

8. Evaluate exactly: log 10√10 =

9. Approximate a value: log 6 9 =

10. Approximate a value: log120 6250 =

11. Solve: 32𝑥−1 = 315

12. Solve: 4 = 26𝑥+8

2
13. Solve: 9𝑥 = 32𝑥

14. Solve: 5𝑥 = 10
 1−72𝑥
15. Solve: 1−7𝑥
=2

16. Solve: 8.3 = 7(1.03)𝑥

𝑥⁄
1 15
17. Solve: 0.001 = 10 (2)

18. Simplify: 5(log5 9) =

2
4 (3 )
19. Simplify: log 2 ( 26
) =

20. Prove that log 𝑎 (𝑎𝑏 ∙ 𝑏 𝑎 ) = 𝑏 + 𝑎 log 𝑎 𝑏

1
21. Prove that 2 log 𝑥 − log(𝑥 3 ) = log
𝑥

22. Solve: log 2 (𝑥 2 + 𝑥) = 1

23. Gerri invests $800 in a government bond which appreciates in value annually at a rate of 2.4%.
a. Fifteen years later, Gerri has to cash in the bond to pay for a medical bill. How much will
the bond be worth at that time?
b. If Gerri did not need to cash out the bond, after how many years would the bond be
worth $3,000?

24. If a tennis ball is dropped from a height, it loses much of its energy in its impact with the ground.
On the next bounce, it will only reach 4⁄5 of that height.
a. If I drop a tennis ball from a height of five feet, then how high will it bounce between
the third and fourth times that it hits the ground?
b. If I drop a tennis ball from the observation deck of the Empire State Building, then how
many bounces will it take before a person on the ground could reach up and grab the
tennis ball at the peak of its bounce without jumping? You will need to estimate and
research to answer this question.
25. All living things take in (either through respiration, eating or whatever) carbon from the
environment. The carbon in the environment occasionally is turned into the radioactive isotope
carbon-14 by radiation from space, and since these rays are fairly predictable, the amount of
carbon in the environment is almost constant. While a creature is alive, the proportion of
radioactive versus normal carbon atoms in the creature is the same as that in the environment.
When the creature dies, the proportion only changes through radioactive decay, which is
exponential decay. The half-life of carbon-14 is 5,730 years. The combination of all this
information means that through measuring the proportion of carbon-14 in the remains of a
living thing, you can determine how long ago the creature died.
a. A dollar bill contains 99.2% of the carbon-14 that it had when it was originally printed. If
the date on the bill reads 1930, then is it likely that the bill is a forgery?
b. Two mummies were found in an Egyptian tomb. One was a mummy of a man and the
other was the mummy of a woman. It is thought that the woman was the mother of the
man based on where the mummies were placed in the tomb. Samples are taken from
the mummies and the woman is found to have 51.9% of the carbon-14 as she would
have had when she died. The man is found to have 53.8% of the carbon-14 as he would
have had when he died. Does this data support the conclusion that the mummies are
man and mother?
c. We have the technology to measure carbon-14 ratios down to about 0.2% (i.e. a sample
containing less than 2 parts carbon-14 for every 1000 parts regular carbon contains is
unmeasurable using current technology). Because of this, there is a maximum number
of years into the past for which we can use carbon-dating. How many years is this?
d. For older fossils, isotopes of other elements with longer half-lives must be used to date
them. A megalodon tooth is found and the potassium-40 percentage is found to be
99.3% of what it was expected to have been when the tooth was grown. Approximately
how many years ago was the tooth grown?
e. “Half-life” stands for the amount of time which must pass until half of the remains. One
could easily define a “Quarter-life” to be the amount of time which must pass before
one fourth of the material remains. In terms of the half-life ℎ, give an expression for the
quarter-life.
f. In terms of the half-life ℎ, give an expression for the “third-life.”
26. The Tsiolkovsky rocket equation allows you to figure out how much speed a rocket can build up
by burning all of its fuel. The equation and a description of the symbols involved is:
𝑣𝑒 𝑚full
∆𝑣 = log ( )
0.434 𝑚empty
∆𝑣 is the total speed that the rocket can build up in meters per second.
𝑣𝑒 is the speed at which the burning fuel exits the back of the rocket in meters per second.
𝑚full is the total mass of the rocket, including all the fuel it has when full of fuel.
𝑚empty is the mass of the rocket once all the fuel has been spent.
a. The final stage of the Saturn V rocket burned liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen and
expelled the resulting water from the rear of the rocket at a speed of 2000 meters per
second. The rocket itself had a mass of 13,300 kg and carried 106,600 kg of fuel. What
was the total velocity that this final stage could achieve if it burned all its fuel?
b. An automatic rifle can push itself like a rocket if the trigger is taped down and the rifle is
released. The most common automatic rifle in the world is the Kalashnikov, or AK-47. It
fires bullets (its fuel) at a speed of 715 meters per second and weighs 3.64 kg without
ammunition. When the clip is loaded, the mass of the rifle increases to 4.56 kg. If the
rifle were set up along a horizontal track and the trigger taped down, to what speed
could the AK-47 accelerate itself?