IGCSE Cambridge (CIE) Further Maths 2 hours 22 questions

Exam Questions

Logarithmic &
Exponential
Functions
Exponential Functions / Logarithmic Functions / Laws of Logarithms / Exponential
Equations / Transforming Relationships to Linear Form

Medium (6 questions) /19 Scan here to return to the course

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Hard (7 questions) /38

Very Hard (9 questions) /47

Total Marks /104

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Medium Questions
1 Given that log a p + log a 5 – log a 4 = log a 20 , find the value of p .

(2 marks)

2 In this question, a , b , c and d are positive constants.

(i) It is given that y = log (x + 3) + log a (2x − 1) . Explain why x must be greater than
a
1
.
2

log a 6
(ii) Find the exact solution of the equation =2
log a (y + 3)

(4 marks)

3 The function f is defined by f (x ) = ln(2x + 1) for x ≥ 0 .

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 Sketch the graph of y = f (x ) and hence sketch the graph of y = f −1 (x ) on the axes
below.

(3 marks)

95 x
4 Solve the equation = 243
27x − 2

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 (3 marks)

5 Write 3 lg x + 2 − lg y as a single logarithm.

(3 marks)

6 Using the substitution y = 2x , or otherwise, solve 22x + 1 − 2x + 1 − 2x + 1 = 0 .

(4 marks)

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Hard Questions
1 For variables x and y , plotting ln y against ln x gives a straight-line graph passing
through the points (6, 5) and (8, 9) .
Show that y = ep x q where p and q are integers to be found.

(4 marks)

2 Variables x and y are such that, when lgy is plotted against x 3 , a straight line graph
passing through the points (6,7) and (10,9) is obtained. Find y as a function of x .

(4 marks)

3 Given that log

2
x + 2 log4y = 8 , find the value of xy .

(3 marks)

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4 (a) Variables x and y are connected by the relationship y = Ax n , where A and n are
constants.

Transform the relationship y = Ax n to straight line form.

(2 marks)

(b) When ln y is plotted against ln x a straight line graph passing through the points (0, 0.5)
and (3.2, 1.7) is obtained.

Find the value of n and of A .

(4 marks)

(c) Find the value of y when x = 11 .

(2 marks)

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5 (a) The population P , in millions, of a country is given by P = A × b t , where t is the number
of years after January 2000 and A and b are constants. In January 2010 the population
was 40 million and had increased to 45 million by January 2013.

Show that b = 1.04 to 2 decimal places and find A to the nearest integer.

(4 marks)

(b) Find the population in January 2020, giving your answer to the nearest million.

(1 mark)

(c) In January of which year will the population be over 100 million for the first time?

(3 marks)

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6 (a) The number, b , of bacteria in a sample is given by b = P + Qe 2 t , where P and Q are
constants and t is time in weeks. Initially there are 500 bacteria which increase to 600
after 1 week.

Find the value of P and of Q .

(4 marks)

(b) Find the number of bacteria present after 2 weeks.

(1 mark)

(c) Find the first week in which the number of bacteria is greater than 1 000 000.

(3 marks)

7 f (x ) = 3 + ex for x ∈ ℝ
g(x ) = 9x − 5 for x ∈ ℝ

Find the exact solution of f −1 (x ) = g'(x ) .

(3 marks)

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Very Hard Questions
1 Solve the equation 32 x + 1 + 8(3x ) – 3 = 0 .

(3 marks)

2 Solve the equation 4 log

y
2 + log2 y = 4 .

(3 marks)

3 Write the expression log

a
9 + (log a b ) (log 9a ) in the form c + d log a 9 , where c and
b
d are integers.

(4 marks)

4 Find the exact solution of 32 x − 3x + 1 − 4 = 0.

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 (4 marks)

5 Solve the simultaneous equations

10x + 2y = 5 ,

103x + 4y = 50 ,

giving x and y in exact simplified form.

(4 marks)

1
6 log a b − = logb a , where a > 0 and b > 0 .
2

Solve this equation for b , giving your answers in terms of a .

(5 marks)

7 Solve the simultaneous equations.

log3 (x + y ) = 2

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 2log3 (x + 1) = log3 (y + 2)

(6 marks)

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 2
8 (a) It is known that y = A × 10bx , where A and b are constants. When lg y is plotted
against x 2 , a straight line passing through the points (3.63, 5.25) and (4.83, 6.88) is
obtained.

Find the value of A and of b .

(4 marks)

(b) Using your values of A and b , find the value of y when x = 2,

(2 marks)

(c) Find the positive value of x when y = 4.

(2 marks)

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9 (a) log2 (y + 1) = 3 − 2 log2x

log2 (x + 2) = 2 + log2y

Show that x 3 + 6x 2 − 32 = 0.

(4 marks)

(b) Find the roots of x 3 + 6x 2 − 32 = 0.

(4 marks)

(c) Give a reason why only one root is a valid solution of the logarithmic equations. Find the
value of y corresponding to this root.

(2 marks)

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