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    Exponential Growth and Decay Lesson Notes

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    Exponential Growth and Decay Lesson Notes

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    4 views3 pages

    Exponential Growth and Decay Lesson Notes

    Uploaded by

    shimalmahmood511

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    of 3

    Exponential Growth and Decay

    Observe how the graphs of exponential functions change based upon the values of a and b:

    Example: Example:

    when a > 0 and the b is between 0 when a > 0 and the b is


    and 1, the graph will be decreasing greater than 1, the graph will
    (decaying). be increasing (growing).

    For this example, each time x is For this example, each


    increased by 1, y decreases to one time x is increased by 1, y
    half of its previous value. increases by a factor of 2.

    Such a situation is called


    Such a situation is called Exponential Growth.
    Exponential Decay.

    When a quantity grows by a fixed percent at regular intervals, the pattern can be represented by the
    functions,

    Growth: Decay:

    a = initial amount before measuring growth/decay


    r = growth/decay rate (often a percent)
    x = number of time intervals that have passed
    Example: A bank account balance, b, for an account starting with s dollars, earning an annual interest
    rate, r, and left untouched for n years can be calculated as (an exponential growth
    formula). Find a bank account balance to the nearest dollar, if the account starts with $100, has an
    annual rate of 4%, and the money left in the account for 12 years.

    Growth by One of the most common examples of exponential growth deals


    doubling: with bacteria. Bacteria can multiply at an alarming rate when each
    Bacteria bacteria splits into two new cells, thus doubling. For example, if
    we start with only one bacteria which can double every hour, by the
    end of one day we will have over 16 million bacteria.
    End of Hour

    2
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 ...
    4
    Bacteria
    -
    starting 2 4 8 16 32 64 128 256 512 1024 2048 4096 8192 16384 ... 16777216
    with
    one
    Pattern: 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 210 211 212 213 214 224
    At the end of 24 hours, there are 16,777,216 bacteria.

    By looking at the pattern, we see that the growth in this situation can be represented as a

    function:
    Will our formula show this same function? If an amount doubles, the rate of increase is
    100%.

    a = the initial amount before the


    growth begins
    Function: r = growth rate
    x = the number of intervals
    as x ranges from 1 to 24 for this
    problem

    Decay: Each year the local country club sponsors a tennis tournament.
    Play starts with 128 participants. During each round, half of the
    players are eliminated. How many players remain after 5
    rounds?
    Tennis Tournament

    Rounds 1 2 3 4 5

    Number of
    64 32 16 8 4
    Players left
    There are 4 players a = the initial amount before the decay
    remaining after 5 rounds. begins
    r = decay rate
    Function: x = the number of intervals

    as x ranges from 1 to 5 for this problem

    Decay by half-life: The pesticide DDT was widely used in the United States until its
    ban in 1972. DDT is toxic to a wide range of animals and aquatic
    life, and is suspected to cause cancer in humans. The half-life of
    DDT can be 15 or more years. Half-life is the amount of time it
    takes for half of the amount of a substance to decay. Let's
    mathematically examine the half-life of 100 grams of DDT.

    By looking at the pattern, we see that this decay can be represented as a

    function:

    a = the initial amount before the decay


    begins
    Function: r = decay rate
    x = the number of intervals
    as x ranges from 1 to 10 for this
    problem

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