Unit Summary Answers Here

Beautiful examples (Your Amazing Narratives How I feel about my

assignment work here! Evidence) preparedness for:

Exponent Rules To me, one of the most interesting rules from this unit was
that of Rational Exponents. x^ becomes x. It gets more
complicated when the numerator is greater than 1. In this
case, we can refer to the power rule. As illustrated in problem
2c, (10)^3/2 = (10^3)^ = 10^3=1,000. This works because
3* = 3/2 .

Habit of a Mathematician - Generalize

When we were introduced to this rule, we were asked if it
was more efficient to use (b^1/x)^y or (b^y)^1/x . We were
give an example problem to try this with. For that specific
problem, it seemed easier to do the former. However, this
proved to be the less efficient method for most of the
problems we did. This reminded me that what is best for on
case is not necessarily best for all. More tests must be done
in order to accurately generalize.

Exponential Growth and Decay The population of a country starts at 2 million and
Models increases at a rate of 4%. The food supply is initially
adequate for 4 million people and increases to be adequate
for an additional 0.5 million people each year. Were asked to
express each of these statements as functions and
determine the first year the country would experience food
shortages.
We began by identifying whether each scenario
described linear or exponential growth. Seeing that the
growth rate of population is represented as a percentage, we
know it must be exponential. We can determine that the food
supply increases at a linear rate, because the the same value
is added each year. With an exponential population growth
and a linear food supply growth, food shortages are
inevitable.
The function for population growth is P(t)=2(1.04)^t, in
millions of people. 2 is the initial amount. 1.04 can be found
by taking the rate of 4%, then converting it to decimal and
adding 1.
The function for food supply is F(t)=.5t+4 . This is in
y=mx+b form. .5 is the amount of additional people, in
millions, that can be fed each year. This is combined with the
initial amount that can be fed in a year, 4 million.
The first food shortage can be seen after the intersection
of the two functions as seen on a graph. The intersection
represents the year when there is just enough food for each
person. The shortage happens after 78 years.

Habit of a Mathematician - Start Small

This problem had many parts, each building on the last.
After finding the functions for the situation and determining
when the food would run out, we changed values in the food
shortage equation to identify the reason for an inevitable food
shortage.
Forms of Exponential Equations
We were asked to determine that four different equations
were equivalent. There are 3 ways to do this:
1) Input a value and compare the outputs
2) Graph
3) Use exponential rules to put the equations into the
same form
In each method, the equations should appear the same.
In order to refresh our memories of exponential rules, we
used the third method. The most challenging part of this
assignment for me was question 2, understanding what each
part of the functions represented in the context of the word
problem. I was able to decipher each equation algebraically,
but had trouble remembering the significance of each
variable.
 1. For the first equation, the rate of change is
represented as an exponent of e. When it is plugged
into a calculator without t, the term is shown to be
equivalent to that of the 3rd equation. This makes the
two functions equivalent and all the others can be put
into the same form.
2. The second equation has a fractional exponent
attached to the base of , representing the half-life
of the substance over time. The fraction can be
broken up into one whole exponent (the numerator)
and one radical (the denominator). When the value is
calculated,we see it is equivalent to that of equation 1
and 3.
3. This is already in the form we have been using.
4. This equation has a different a value than the others.
The exponent of t a lso has a -3 attached to it. We can
separate the negative exponent by writing 1/b^3. That
can then be multiplied by the a value, resulting in an
expression equivalent to the others.

Habit of a Mathematician - Take Apart and Put Back

Together
This problem required analysis of each part of each
equation to determine its value and meaning. I had to refer
back to my notes in order to break up each equation and find
the meaning in each part.