10.

1 Activity: Non-Linear Change Name_______________________

In previous chapters, you have studied changes that involve constant rates. Linear functions can model
processes that increase or decrease at a constant rate. But if the rate of change of a quantity is not
constant, a nonlinear function is needed.

1. Cut a piece of paper in half. Lay the half sheets on top of each other. Count and record the number
of sheets in the pile. Cut each of the two half sheets in half again. Count and record. Continue stacking
and cutting the paper. Each time, count the number of layers of paper in the stack and record the result
in the table.

Ratio of
Computing
Number of Layers Change in Number Successive
Number of Cuts Process for
of Paper of Layers Numbers of
Column 2
Layers

0 1 ---------- ---------- ----------

2
1 2 2 1  1 2 2  21
1

2 4 4-2=2 4=22

3 8 8-4=4 8=23

4 16 16-8=8 16=24

5 32 32-16=16

6 64

2. Make a scatter plot of your data on the grid below.

3. Is the function you have graphed continuous or discrete? Explain.

4. What are the domain and range of the function?

5. In the third column, write the difference between the number of layers after the cut and before the
cut, for each cut.

6. Describe the pattern of the changes in the number of layers.

7. Is the change in the number of layers a linear function of the number of cuts? Explain.

8. For each cut, write, in the fourth column, the ratio of the number of layers after the cut. For example,
after the first cut,

the number of layers after 1 cut 2

 2
the number of layers 0 cuts 1
Describe any pattern you see in the fourth column.

9. In the fifth column of your table, show how powers of 2 can be used to compute the number of layers
of paper after each cut. For example, after the second cut, the number of layers is 2  2  2 .
2

10. Look at the first and fifth columns of your table. Describe any connection you see between the
number of cuts and the expressions in the “Computing Process for Column 2” column.

11. Write a function for the number of layers of paper L if you cut the paper n times.

L=2x

12. Use your graphing calculator to make a scatter plot of the data from your first table in Question 1.
Then graph your function from Question 11 on the scatter plot and record your window. Does your
function describe the points in the scatter plot?

13. Use your function to predict how many layers of paper there would be after 10 cuts.

14. What happens as the number of cuts increases?

15. What is the vertical intercept of the graph of your function?

16. Write a summary of what you have found out about the properties of the function that relates the
number of layers of paper to the number of cuts.
Exponential Functions

The function you investigated in the Activity is an example of an exponential function. The equation of
an exponential function consists of

● an initial value a, where a≠0,

● a constant base,
● a variable exponent, x.

Using these symbols, the general form is

y  a  bx , where a is the initial value of the dependent variable y.

An exponential function has the following properties:

● The base b can be any positive real number except 1.

● The domain includes all real numbers.
● The range includes either positive real numbers or negative real numbers, but not both.

● The y-intercept of the graph of the function is

 0,a
.
● As x increases by constant amounts, the ratios of successive values of the function are constant.

When the ratios of successive values of the function are positive, as in the Activity, the base b is greater

than 1. In such cases, the function y  a  b describes exponential growth.

x
10.1 Practice Name______________________________

1. In Question 11 of the Activity, you found an exponential function that models the increase in the
number of layers of paper.

a. What is the initial value of your function?

b. What is the base of your function?

c. What is the exponent?

d. Does the problem domain for your function include all real numbers? Explain.

2. Examine the “Computing Processes” column of your table in Question 9. Continue the pattern of
0
exponents in this column to find a value for the expression 2 .

3. Explain why 1 is not a useful value for the base of an exponential function.
4. A student in a biology lab places a sample of bacteria in a culture dish. She counts and records the
number of bacteria present every hour beginning at noon.

Hour Time t (hours) Number of Bacteria Present

12:00 pm 0 15

1:00 pm 1 60

2:00 pm 2 240

3:00 pm 3 960

a. Can the relationship between time and number of bacteria be described by an exponential function?
Explain. yes the relationship between time and the number of bacteria can be described by an
exponential because it adds up

b. Write a function that models the number of bacteria N as a function of time t in hours.

n=35 t=4

c. Use your function to predict the number of bacteria that will be present at 6:00 pm if this pattern
continues. 5

5. Chain letters appear frequently on the internet. One person starts a chain letter by sending an e-mail
message to several friends. Each recipient is asked to forward the letter to an equal number of friends.
The pattern can be repeated for a number of rounds to establish more links in the chain.

a. Write an expression for the total number of people who have received a chain letter after n rounds if
each person sends the letter to 5 friends. Each person receives the chain letter only once.

71

b. Suppose that two friends decide to begin a chain letter by each sending a message to six of their
friends and asking them to forward it to six more friends, etc. No one receives the letter more than
once, and the two friends do not send it to each other. Write an expression for the total number of
people who have received the chain letter after n rounds.

56

6. The sequence of numbers 4, 12, 36, 108,… is an example of a geometric sequence.

36
 y  a 3
x

a. What does this sequence have in common with the exponential function ?

b. Number each term in the sequence. Let 4, the first number in the sequence, be term number 0.
Write an expression for the nth term in the sequence that is valid for each term starting with
term number 1.