5.6 Applications and Models: Growth and Decay; Compound Interest

  • Solve applied problems involving exponential growth and decay.

  • Solve applied problems involving compound interest.

Exponential functions and logarithmic functions with base e are rich in applications to many fields such as business, science, psychology, and sociology.

Population Growth

The function

P(t)=P0ekt, k>0,

is a model of many kinds of population growth, whether it be a population of people, bacteria, smartphones, or money. In this function, P0 is the population at time 0, P is the population after time t, and k is called the exponential growth rate. The graph of such ...

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