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Unit 9C: Exponential Functions

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12 views4 pages

Unit 9C: Exponential Functions

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maleehaimran343
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Unit 9C

• In 9C, we will investigate the exponential function and some of its many applications in
mathematical models.

• This exponential modeling is a quantity that has a constant growth rate.

Exponential Functions

• An exponential function grows (or decays) by the same relative amount per unit time.

• For any quantity Q growing exponentially with a fractional growth rate r (which r is positive?) equals:

Q = Qo X (1 + r)t

Where: t = time, Q = Value of quantity at time t, Qo = initial value of quantity (t = 0), r = fractional growth rate
for the quantity.

Negative values of r correspond to exponential decay. The units of time used for t
and r must be the same.

Algebra with Logarithms

Solve for x in the equation 3 x = 100.

(Magic Penny) When will you have $10 million?

9C Page 1
Some virus spreads at a rate of 3.5% per day, with a 7% death rate. There are 100 people infected today.
compute the following:

(a.) How many people will be infected in 1 year?

(b.) How many will die of this infection in 1 year?

(c.) How long would it take for it to wipe out the world population of 7 billion people, assuming that
those who survived the virus have the same chance of getting it again, and the same chance of dying from it.

Graphing Exponential Growth Functions...


• The easiest way to graph an exponential growth function is to use points corresponding to several doubling
times.
• We start with the point (0, Q0) that represents the initial value at t = 0.
• For exponentially growing quantities, we know that one doubling the value of Q is 2Q 0. After 2 doublings (Q is
4Q0). And so on…

Graphing Exponential Decay Functions...


• The easiest way to graph an exponential decay function is to use points corresponding to several half lives.
• We start with the point (0, Q0) that represents the initial value at t = 0.
• For exponentially decaying quantities, we know that one half life of value Q is ½ Q 0. After 2 doublings (Q is ¼ Q0).
• And so on…

9C Page 2
Alternative Forms of the Exponential Function…

• Our general equation for the exponential function is Q = Qo X (1 + r)t

• This contains a growth rate, not doubling time or half-life [chapter 8].

If we are given the doubling time Tdouble, use the form

Q = Qo X 2t / Tdouble
If we are given the half-life Thalf, use the form

Q = Qo X (1/2)t / Thalf

Ex The average price of a home in a certain town was $86,000 in 1990, but home prices have been
falling by 4% per year.
(a.) Create an exponential function of the form Q = Qo X (1 + r)t to model this situation.

(b.) Find the exact half-life for the home price, and use it to model the situation.

Ex In 1995, the enrollment at a certain university was 2400 students.


(a.) If the enrollment increases by 11% per year, what will the enrollment be in the year 2011?

(b.) Find the exact doubling time, and use it to model the situation; then answer part (b.) using this model.

9C Page 3
Ex Suppose that poaching reduces the population of an endangered animal by 12% per year. Further,
suppose that when the population of this animal falls below 45, its extinction is inevitable (owing to the
lack of reproductive options without severe in-breeding).

If the current population of this animal is 1400, in how many years will it face extinction?

Ex A fossilized bone contains about 62% of its original carbon-14. How old is the bone? (The half-life of
carbon-14 is about 5700 years.)

9C Page 4

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