11/8/2015

GrowthandDecay

Math30PExponentsLogarithmsSequencesSeriesRegression/RecursiveInterestGrowthRichter/PHPrerequisiteSkills

ExponentialGrowth:DoublingTime:

ExponentialDecay

exponentialfunction:afunctionoftheformy=Abx
doublingtime:thetimeittakesforapopulationtodouble
stepfunction:afunctionwhosegraphincreasesindiscreteamountsandisconstantbetweenincrements
exponentialgrowth:growththatcanbemodelledbyanexponentialfunction
N(t)istheamountofsubstanceaftertime,t
Norepresenttheoriginalamountofsubstance
t=elapsedtime
d=doublingperiod(time)orgenerationtime
WhattoLearn

HelptoRememberWhattoLearn

TheexponentialfunctionN(t)=
No(r)t/d,No>0,r>1,d>0,
whereNo,r,tanddarereal
numbers.

InteractiveActivity
Clickontheapplettoactivate
Movethea,dandrsliders.Observethechange(s)haveonthegraphoftheexponentialfunction.
MovethetsliderandobservetheN(t)valueofthedatapointontheexponentialcurve.

thefunctionis
increasing.

Exponential
Growth:
r>1

Asthe
valueof
r
increases,
theslope
ofthe
function
gets
steeper.
linear,N(t)=r.
(Notshown)

Whenr=1 Rememberfor
exponential
functionr 1
horizontal
asymptote

No=0
(xaxis)

vertical
asymptote

none

xintercept

none

yintercept

No

domain
range

t>0,t R
N(t)>0,N(t)
R

SolvingExponentialGrowth
Equations
Note:Whenfindingr,youwill
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getandundefineddisplayforr
whent=0.Rememberthatr0=
1,regardlessofraslongar
0.Whent=0,wecannot
determinethevaluerwithN(t)
=No(r)t/d.
Note:Whenfindingd,youwill
getandundefineddisplayford
whent=0.Rememberatt=0,
N(t)=No.WhenN(t)andNo
areequal,(logN(t)logNo)=
0.Dividingby0isundefined.
Whent=0,t/d=#doubling
periods=0regardlessofthe
valueofd.Whent=0,we
cannotdeterminethevalued
withN(t)=No(r)t/d.
Note:Whenfindingtord,you
maygetaroundofferrordueto
theroundingofN(t)inthefirst
calculation.

Note:SomeresourcesuseP=
Po(r)n.Ifyouuseaformulain
thisform,berememberwhen
yousolvefornthatyouare
calculatingthenumberof
populationperiods.

Example
Apopulationdoublesevery10years.Ifthepopulationiscurrently5000,howlongwillittaketogrowto30
000.
Solution

P=Po(r)n,P=30000,Po=5000,r=2,populationperiod=10
Ifyouareaskedforthetime(t)
ittakesthepopulationtoreacha
30000=5000(2)n
certainlevel:
t=(#populationperiods)
(populationperiodlength)

6=2n
log6=log(2n)
log6=nlog2
n=log6
log2
n 2.585,butrememberittakes10yearsforpopulationtodouble
time(t)=(#populationperiods)(populationperiodlength)
2.585(10)
25.9
Itwilltakethepopulation25.9yearstoreach30000.

Example1:DoublingTime

Example2:DoublingTime

Thenumberofbacteria,N(t),inaacultureisgivenbytheformula

Initiallyabacteriaculturecontains1250bacteria.Thecountincreased
toapproximately80000bacteria11/2hourslater.Whatisthe
doublingperiodforthisbacterium?

,wheretistheelapsedtime(inminutes)anddisthe
doublingtime.Howmanybacteriawereintheinitialaccount.

Solution

Solution
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Method1
Theformulafordoublingtimeis

,Noistheinitial

LetN(t)representthenumberofbacteriaafterthoursletN0
representtheinitialbacteriacountandletdrepresentthedoubling
time.

account.Accordingtotheequationgiven,
No=300
Method2

300bacteriawereintheinitialcount.

Thedoubingperiodforthisbacteriumis0.25hor15min.

Example2:DoublingTime

Example4:DoublingTime

Theinitialbacteriaculturedoublesin3hours.Writeanequationthat
Asinglebacteriumhasamassof1.01015kg.Ifitsdoublingtime
representsthetimeelapsedfortheculture?
is30minandiftherearesufficientnutrientsandthewastesthey
produceddonotinhibitgrowth,whatwouldthetotalmassofthe
bacteriabeafter3days?Howwouldthatmasscomparetothemassof Solution
Earth,whichisapproximately6.01024kg?
Solution
Letybethenumberofbacteriaatanytime,t(inhours).Sincethe
initialpopulationis1bacteriumandthenumberisdoublingevery30
min(or0.5h),thefunctionthatmodelsthepopulationafterthoursis

Convertdaysintohours.
3d24h/d=72h
Now,findthenumberofbacteriaafter3days.

Multiplythenumberofbacteriabythemassof1bacterium.

Thetotalmassofthebacteriawouldbeabout2.231028kg.

ComparethemassofthebacteriatothemassoftheEarth.
Themassofthebacteriawouldbeapproximately3700timethemass
oftheEarth.
Intheprecedingexampleyouinvestigatedexponentialgrowthin
termsofitsdoublingtime.Forbacteria,thetimerequiredforthe
populationtodoubleisalsocalledthegenerationtime.

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ExponentialGrowthExponentialDecay:HalfLife:
halflife:thetimeittakesforaradioactivesubstancetodecaytoonehalfitsoriginalamount
A(t)istheamountofsubstanceremainingaftertime,t
Aorepresenttheoriginalamountofsubstance
t=elapsedtime
h=halflifeperiod
WhattoLearn

HelptoRememberWhattoLearn

TheexponentialfunctionN(t)=
No(r)t/h,No>0,0<r<1,h>0,
whereNo,r,tandharerealnumbers.
Exponential
Decay:
0<r<1

thefunctionis
decreasing.

InteractiveActivity
Clickontheapplettoactivate
Movethea,dandrsliders.Observethechange(s)haveonthegraphoftheexponential
function.
MovethetsliderandobservetheN(t)valueofthedatapointontheexponentialcurve.

linear:N(t)=0
(Notshown)
Whenr=0

Whenr<0

Rememberfor
exponential
functionr>0.
alternating
geometric
sequence.
Example:
N(t)=(2)t/1,t
N
{2,4,8,16,...}
Rememberfor
exponential
functionr>0.

horizontal
asymptote

No=0
(xaxis)

vertical
asymptote

none

xintercept

none

yintercept

No

domain
range

t>0,t R
N(t)>0,N(t) R

SolvingExponentialDecay
Equations

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Example1

Example2

Thehalflifeofstrontium90is25years.A100gsampleof
strontium90ispurchased.Howmuchstrontium90willremainin60
years.

Thehalflifeofcarbon14is5730years.Thisisthetimeittakesfor
50%oftheoriginalcarbon14atomstodecaytonitrogen.The
percentage,P(t),oftheoriginalcarbon14thatremainsaftertyears
canbemodelledbythefollowingexponentialfunction:

Iftheremainingpercentageis25%,thentheage,t(inyears),ofthe
artifactcanbefoundbysolvingthefollowingexponentialequation:

In60yearstherewillbe19.95gremaininginthestrontium90
sample.

Whenthereis25%ofthecarbon14remaining,theartifactwillbe11
460yearsold.
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Example3

Example4

Thehalflifeofofiodine131is8.1days.Howlongwillittakefor
100gofiodine131todecayto77.4g.

Thehalflifeofstrontium90is25years.Howmuchtimehaselapsed
if1/4remainsinasample.

Solution

Solution

Thegeneralequationis
,whereA(t)representsthe
amountpresentaftertdays,A0istheoriginalamount,andHisthe
halflifeofthesubstance.

LetA(t)representtheamountofstrontium90aftertyears,andletA0
representtheoriginalamount.

A(t)=77.4g,A0=100g,andH=8.1days.

Sincethesubstanceisdecreasingbyonehalfevery25years,the
equationis
Ifremainsaftertyears,then

Therefore,50yearshaveelapsed.

Itwilltakeapproximately3.0daysfor100gofiodine131todecayto
77.4g.
Example5

Example6

Whatisthehalflifeofplutonium243if1/64oftheoriginalamount
remainsafter30h?

Thehalflifeofcobalt60is5.3years.After10.6yearswhatfraction
ofthecobalt60willremain?Howlongwillittakeuntil12.5%ofthe
originalcobalt60remains.

Solution
LetA(t)representtheamountofplutonium243afterthoursletA0
representtheoriginalamountandlethbethehalflife.

Solution
After10.6years,t=10.6.

Sincethesubstanceisdecreasingbyonehalfeveryhhours,the
equationis
If1/64oftheoriginalamountremainsafter30h,then

After10.6years,onlyoftheoriginalamountremains.

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Therefore,thehalflifeofplutonium243is5h.

After15.9years,only12.5%oftheoriginalamountremains.

PartsofthisworkhasbeenadaptedfromaMath30PurelearningresourceoriginallyproducedandownedbyAlbertaEducation
Math30PExponentsLogarithmsSequencesSeriesRegression/RecursiveInterestGrowthRichter/PHPrerequisiteSkills
Commentsto:JimReedHomepage
StartedSeptember,1998.Copyright2006,2007,2008

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