LESSON: EXPONENTIAL FUNCTION

LESSON DESCRIPTION:

This module is about Exponential Functions. You will learn how to classify relations which deals on
Interest on bank accounts, radioactive decay, biological growth, and the spread of infectious
diseases. These are examples by which the amount of change depends on the amount of materials
present. You will also develop skills in graphing different types of exponential functions.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES with MELCs:

The learners will be able to…

1. Identify certain relationships in real life which are exponential (e.g. population, growth over
time, growth of bacteria over time, etc.)
2. Given a table of ordered pairs, state whether the trend is exponential or not.
x
3. Draw the graph of an exponential function f(x) = a and describe some properties of the
function or its graph.

• a>1
• 0<a<1

4. Given the graph of an exponential function determine the:

• domain
• range
• intercepts • trend
• asymptote

x x
5. Draw the graph of an exponential function f(x) = Ba and f(x) = a + c and compare it to the
x
graph of f(x) = a

LASALLIAN GUIDED PRINCIPLE (LGP)

1. Challenge learners to realize their full potentials.

EXPONENTIAL FUNCTIONS
Eccentricity of a Conic

KNOWLEDGE ACTIVATION

Lesson 1
Identify Relationships in Real Life Which are Exponential in Nature

A rabbit at maturity
gives birth to two rabbits. If a rabbit gives birth to 2 rabbits, and two rabbits in turn gives birth to two

Let’s see this in a table:

No. of births 1 2 3 4 No. of rabbits 2 4 8 16

This example is exponential in nature and is said to be an increasing function or an exponential

Relational statements such as mass of a 200 gram sample of an element being reduced to 100
grams after 10 years is an example of a decreasing function or an exponential decay. The period
where this occurs is called half-life.

You will encounter terms such as appreciate and growth for increase, and terms such as depreciate,
half-life or decay for decrease in the discussions on exponential functions.

Lesson 2
 LESSON: EXPONENTIAL FUNCTION

Given a Table of Ordered Pairs, State Whether the Trend is Exponential or Not

A relation which exhibits an exponential change can be described by a set of values in a table. In your
study of the table of values of linear and quadratic functions, you get a constant value in the first
differences in y in a linear functions while a constant in the second differences in a quadratic function.
 LESSON: EXPONENTIAL FUNCTION

Lesson 3
Draw the graph of an exponential function f(x) = a , where a >1
x
An exponential function of the form y = a where a >1. To understand fully exponential function of this
form , let us complete the table of values, plot the points and graph the function.

Examples:

x
1. Construct a table of values for f(x) = 2 and graph in the coordinate plane.

Table of values
 LESSON: EXPONENTIAL FUNCTION

One property of the graph is that it passes the point (0, 1) or the graph has its y – intercept = 1.

x
2. Construct a table of values for f(x) = 4 and graph in the coordinate plane.

Like the graph of f(x) = 2 , the graph passes (0, 1) and its y – Intercept = 1.

x x
To further explore the properties of the graphs, let us plot the points of f(x) = 2 and f(x) = 4 on one
coordinate plane.

Now let us compare the table of values of the two functions.

What have you noticed?

x x
The set of values for y in f(x) = 4 tends to be greater than that of f(x) = 2 as x increases and tends
too become much smaller as x decreases.

As x becomes smaller, y also becomes too small that it tends to approach zero. But will a value of x
give us a value of 0 for y? Think by analyzing the values of y. Yes, you are right it will never give us a
zero value for y.

x x
Compare to the graphs of f(x) = 2 and f(x) = 4

What have you noticed?

x
xx meaning the graph of f(x) = 4 is steeper.

Now you can draw a conclusion for this. The base of the two functions are 4 and 2. This illustrates
that the bigger is the base, the steeper is the graph.
 LESSON: EXPONENTIAL FUNCTION

Notice also that the graph approaches zero as the value of x becomes smaller. From the table of
values, it will never get a zero value for y. Meaning, the graph will not touch the x – axis or the line y =
0. We shall now call this line the asymptote.

Let us draw more properties by observing the two graphs. We shall see the trend of the graph.
Always start from the left side of the graph. See that the graphs increases from left to right. The trend
of the graphs of the two functions is therefore increasing. This two functions are increasing functions.

The domain (values of x) of an exponential function is the set of real numbers. The range can be
observed from the graph. The graph approaches zero but never touches it. Let us make then zero the
boundary or the graph is from y > 0 going up. Therefore, the range is the set of all y’s greater than 0
or {y/y > 0}.

You can now conclude that exponential functions of the form f(x) = a ,

where a >1 have these properties.

Now it is your turn to try your skills in constructing tables, graphing and analyzing properties of
exponential functions of the form you have learned.

Lesson 4
Draw the graph of an exponential function f(x) = a , where 0< a <1.
x
Now let us try graphing exponential functions of the form f(x) = a , where is

0< a <1. They simply are the base that are fractions between 0 and 1. See how the graphs differ
with that of the previous lesson.

x
Example: Graph y = 1 2
LESSON: EXPONENTIAL FUNCTION
 LESSON: EXPONENTIAL FUNCTION

MIND STRAINERS
DEVELOPING YOUR SKILLS

Try this out

1. ThepopulationofKuhalaIslanddoublesevery3decades.
2. The amount of radioactive isotope of carbon has a half-life of 5500 years.
3. Acolonyofbacteriagrowsby20%everyhalfhour.
4. An amount deposited by Jessie in a bank earn with compound interest of 6% yearly.
5. The value of a car depreciates 10% of its amount every year.
6. A person deciding to go on a diet for 3 months loses 1 kg of his weight 8 every month.
7. A chain letter where each person sends 3letters to 3 persons.
8. A radioactive substance decays after a certain time t.
9. The value of a jewelry appreciates 8% every 5 years.
10. A certain culture of bacteria grows from 500 to 400 bacteria every 1.5 hours.
LESSON: EXPONENTIAL FUNCTION
 LESSON: EXPONENTIAL FUNCTION

B.

C. For each pair of functions, which has a steeper graph?

1. y=1.5x x
andy=3

2. y=2x x
and y=2.5

3. y=3x x
andy=3.5

x x
4. y=4 andy=3

5. y=4.2x x
andy=4

6. y=7x x
andy=9
 LESSON: EXPONENTIAL FUNCTION

x x
7. y=5 and y= 1.5

x x
8. y=3 andy= 8

9. y=6x x
and y= .6

x x
10. y=4 and y=5
LESSON: EXPONENTIAL FUNCTION
LESSON: EXPONENTIAL FUNCTION
LESSON: EXPONENTIAL FUNCTION
LESSON: EXPONENTIAL FUNCTION