I.

Nature of Measurement and Growth

A. Exponential Equations
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Denition 1. An equation of the form bx = N .

Note:

an exponential is an expression of the form bx .

the approximate values of two important constants will be used: 3.1416 and e 2.7183.

Example 1. Evaluate the given exponentials (correct to two decimal places) using a calculator

a) 28 b) 32.5 c) 3 d) e2 e) e f ) e

B. Logarithmic Equations

Denition 2. For positive b, b 6= 1 and A, the statement x = logb A means bx = A, where A is called
the argument and b is called the logarithm.

Common logarithms:log x means log10 x

Natural logarithm: ln x means loge x

The statement is read as the logarithm of A to the base b

Example 2. Write the following in logarithmic form. a) 52 = 25 b) 81 = 23 c) 64 = 8.
Example 3. Tell what each expression means, and then rewrite in exponential form.
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a) log10 10 b) log10 1000 c) log1 3.
Example 4. Solve the given exponential. a) 2x = 14 b) 3x = 5 c) 10x = 2 d) ex = 0.56
Theorem 1. (Change of Base)
logb x
loga x =
logb a

Example 5. Evaluate (round to the nearest hundreth). a) log3 7 b) log3 3.84

Example 6. Solve the following expnential equations. a) 10x = 5 b) e0.06 = 3.456 c) e8x = 156.8

C.Applications of Growth and Decay

II. Interest

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In his history book, F. Cajori wrote, The miraculous powers of modern calculation are due to three inventions: the
Arabic notaion, decimal fractions, and logarithms....Simply stated, a logarithm is an exponent.