EXPONENTIAL AND

LOGARITHMIC FUNCTIONS
 Review
••  
The expression which is read “the th power of a” or “a to the th power” is the product of n
factors, each of which equals a; where a is the base and is the exponent.

• Recall the following relations, where and represent positive integers and p is any rational
number:

( not even if )
 Review
•  LAWS ON EXPONENTS • 
• The Product of Powers • The Power of a Quotient

• The Power of a Power

• The Power of a Product

Introduction to Exponential Functions

• In a polynomial, the variable is the base and a constant is the exponent.

• In an exponential function, the variable is the exponent and a constant is the

base.
 
Here are a few details to notice.

1. We don’t use zero for the constant base of an exponential function. If we did and tried j(x)=0x, then
what would happen if we tried to evaluate j(–2)? We would get which is undefined! We can’t do
that!
2. We use only positive numbers for the constant base. If we didn’t restrict that, then we might write
k(x)=( –4)x. What would happen when we try to evaluate k(1/2)? This would give us √–4 which
would be an imaginary result. We’re going to stay away from these, too.
3. Also, we don’t use ‘1’ for the base. If we try m(x)=1x, then what is the range? No matter what the x-
value we use, the y-value is always going to be ‘1.’ That means this function m(x) would reduce to
m(x)=1 which is a constant polynomial function.
Example
• 
If the given function is and the values of , then and .
 
Graphs of Exponential Functions

All exponential graphs -- -- have the same y-intercept. Because to find the y-intercept, we use
and . So (0,1) is the common y-intercept no matter what the base of the exponential function is.

The domain of exponentials is ; in other words all Real numbers can serve as exponents. The
range of the “basic” exponential function is . The range is the output. And since we are only
allowed to use positive number bases, we can only end up with positive results. There is no
exponent that can turn a positive base into a zero nor into a negative result!! Thus, there are no x-
intercepts on the graph.
 
Special Exponential Functions

There are two special exponential functions we commonly use.

1. Because our number system is based on 10, one useful exponential function is , where C is a

constant.

2. Another very useful exponential function has a base of "e." e is NOT a variable. It is a number

which occurs in nature (like π). It is not a number any person thought up, rather it is a number

scientists discovered as they studied growth and decay in the “natural” world. e is an irrational

number approximately equal to 2.7182818.... (never–ending, non–repeating). Thus his called the

“natural” exponential function.

• 
Logarithms. Let represent a positive number, not 1. Then, if is a positive number, there exists a
corresponding number such that . This leads to the following definition.

Definition. The logarithm of N with respect to the base b is the

exponent of the power to which b must be raised to obtain N.

• In other words, if , then is the logarithm of to the base . If is positive and is real, then is
positive.

• The notation is used for the logarithm of N to the base b.

ILLUSTRATION
••  
Since , the logarithm of 32 with respect to the base 2 is 5.

• The logarithm of 1000 to the 10 is 3 because .

• Since , the logarithm of 1 to the base b is zero for any value of b. Since , the
logarithm of b to the base b is 1.
• 
Logarithms to the base 10 are called common logarithms. We shall write for
the common logarithm of , and read as “logarithm of N”.

• We may say that the equation and are equivalent.

If , then .

If , then .
ILLUSTRATION
• 
• Since , hence

• Since , hence

• To find the , we express .001 as a power of 10.

Since , hence
ILLUSTRATION
• 
• Since , hence .5.

• Since , hence .