Chapter 9
Examining Exponential and Logarithmic Functions
IN THIS CHAPTER
Investigating exponential functions and rules of exponents
Introducing laws of logarithms and simplifications
Solving exponential and logarithmic equations
Exponential growth and decay are natural phenomena. They happen all around us. And, being the thorough, worldly people they are, mathematicians have come up with ways of describing, formulating, and graphing these phenomena. You express the patterns observed when exponential growth and decay occur mathematically with exponential and logarithmic functions.
Computing Exponentially
An exponential function is unique because its variable appears in the exponential position and its constant appears in the base position. You write an exponent, or power, as a superscript just after the base. In the expression 
, for example, the variable x is the exponent, and the constant 3 is the base. The general form for an exponential function is , where
- The base b is any ...
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