LESSON 10

EXPONENTIAL and LOGARITHMIC

FUNCTIONS
 EXPONENTIAL FUNCTION
If x and b are real numbers such that b > 0 and b ≠ 1, then
f(x) = bx is an exponential function with base b.

Examples of exponential functions:

a) y = 3x b) f(x) = 6x

Example: Evaluate the function y = 4x at the given values of x.

a) x = 2 b) x = -3 c) x = 0
PROPERTIES OF EXPONENTIAL FUNCTION y = bx

• The domain is the set of all real numbers.

• The range is the set of positive real numbers.
• The y – intercept of the graph is 1.
• The x – axis is an asymptote of the graph.
• The function is one – to – one.
 The graph of the function y = bx
y

Domain :   ,  y  bx
Range : 0 , 
y  int ercept : 0 ,1
x  int ercept : none
Horizontal Asymptote : x  axis

1

o x
 EXAMPLE 1: Graph the function y = 3x
x -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3
y 1/27 1/9 1/3 1 3 9 27

y  3x

1

o x
 EXAMPLE 2: Graph the function y = (1/3)x
x -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3
y 27 9 3 1 1/3 1/9 1/27

x
1
y  
3

1

o x
 EXAMPLE 3: Graph of the function y = 3x
with translations
y

y  3x
y  3x  1

y  3 x 1

1

o x
 NATURAL EXPONENTIAL FUNCTION: f(x) = ex
y

Domain :   ,  f x   e x
Range : 0 , 
y  int ercept : 0 ,1
x  int ercept : none
Horizontal Asymptote : x  axis

1

o x
DEFINITION OF A LOGARITHM AND A LOGARITHMIC FUNCTION
If x > 0 and b is a positive constant (b ≠ 1), then
y = logb x if and only if by = x
The notation logb x is read “the logarithm (or log) base b of x”.
The function defined by f(x) = logb x is a logarithmic function
with base b. This function is the inverse of the exponential
function g(x) = bx.
Examples of logarithmic functions:
a) y = log3 x b) f(x) = log6 x

Definition of Exponential Form and Logarithmic Form:

The exponential form of y = logb x is by = x.
The logarithmic form of by = x is y = logb x.
EXAMPLE 1: Express in exponential form:

a ) log4 64  3
b ) log2 32  5
c ) log 1 16  4
2

d ) log5 0.04  2

EXAMPLE 2: Express in logarithmic form:

a ) 6 3  216
5
b ) 16  32
4

4
c ) 27  81
3

1
d ) 49  7
2
PROPERTIES OF LOGARITHMIC FUNCTIONS

• The domain is the set of positive real numbers.

• The range is the set of all real numbers.
• The x – intercept of the graph is 1.
• The y – axis is an asymptote of the graph.
• The function is one – to – one.
 The graph of the function y = logb x
y

o 1 x
Domain : 0 , 
Range :   , 
y  logb x
x  int ercept : 0 ,1
y  int ercept : none
Vertical Asymptote : y  axis
EXAMPLE 1: Graph the function y = log3 x
x 1/27 1/9 1/3 1 3 9 27
y -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3
y
y  log3 x

1
o  x
EXAMPLE 2: Graph the function y = log1/3 x
x 27 9 3 1 1/3 1/9 1/27
y -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3

1
o  x

y  log 1 x
3
 EXAMPLE 3: Graph the function y = log3 x
with translations

y
y  log3 x  2

1
o  x

y  log3 x  2 y  log3 x
 DEFINITION OF COMMON AND NATURAL LOGARITHMS
The function defined by f(x) = log10 x is called the common
logarithmic function. It is customarily written as f(x) = log x,
without stating the base.
The function defined by f(x) = loge x is called the natural
logarithmic function. It is customarily written as f(x) = ln x.

If ln x  loge x , then ln e  logee  1

 PROPERTIES OF LOGARITHMS
If M, N, and b (b ≠ 1) are positive real numbers, and r is any real
number, then
logb MN  logb M  logb N
M
logb  logb M  logb N
N
logb N  r logb N
r

logb b  1
logb 1  0
logb b  x
x

b logb x  x
Since logarithmic function is continuous and one-to-one,
every positive real number has a unique logarithm to the
base b. Therefore,
logbN = logbM if and only if N=M

EXAMPLE 1: Express the ff. in expanded form:

a ) log3 xyz d) log2 x 4 y 3

x2
b ) log6 3 x 2
e) log5
y 5 p3
mnp
c ) log4 2
t
EXAMPLE 2: Express as a single logarithm:

a) log2 x  2   log2 x  log2 3

b ) 2 loga m  3 loga n
2
c ) log5 2  3 log5 m  2 log5 n   log5 p
3
 CHANGE-OF-BASE FORMULA
If x, a, and b are positive real numbers with a ≠ 1 and b ≠ 1,
then loga x
logb x 
loga b
Because most calculators use only common logarithms (a = 10)
or natural logarithms (a = e), the change-of-base formula is
used most often in the following form.
If x and b are positive real numbers and b ≠ 1, then
loga x ln x
logb x  
loga b ln b

EXAMPLE: Use common logarithms and natural

logarithms to find each logarithm:
a) log5 65 b) log0.8 70 c) log2 0.1