1.4 Exponential and logarithm graphs.

Solutions
1. At the right is the graph
y = (4/3)x.
Using a construction on this graph make as good an estimate
as you can of:
(a) (4/3)3
(b) log4/3(3)
(c) A solution to the equation (4/3)x = log4/3(x) .
Work as carefully and neatly as you can. Use a sharp pencil
or pen and a ruler.

Solution.
(a) (4/3)3 . This is the height of the graph at x = 3 which is
seen to be close to 2.4.

(b) log4/3(3). This is the x-value of the graph at y = 3 and this

is seen to be close to 3.8.

(c) A solution to the equation (4/3)x = log4/3(x). These are

inverse functions so they can only intersect on the line y = x.
Thus the solutions are also the solutions to the equation
(4/3)x = x.
This is seen from the graph to be close to x = 1.6

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2. At the right are the graphs y = 2x and y = log2(x).

(a) On the same set of axes, draw the graphs
y =(1/2)x and y = log1/2(x).
(b) Having done (a), you have four graphs on the same set of
axes. Describe as simply as you can the geometric
relationship between each pair of graphs. [With 4 graphs
there are 6 pairs, so your answer has 6 parts.]

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3. As in Example 2, the graph on the right belongs to the

function y = 2x on the interval [0, 5]. If the box on the right
framing the graph is turned upside-down and placed on top of
each of the three boxes below, the two curves will coincide.
Use this to find equations of each of the three graphs.

(a)

(b)

(c)

Yet yO = 2x be the height of the original graph, and yA, yB, and
yC be the heights of the graphs in (a), (b) and (c).
(a) The first graph is as much below 40 as the original is
above 0:
yA = 402x
(b) The second graph is as much below 50 as the original is
above 0:
yA = 502x
(c) The third graph has the same y-values as the second, but
the x-axis is transformed. First of all it is expanded by a
factor of 5 (a length of 5 becomes a length of 25) and then it
is translated by 10. To come to terms with this, some students
might want to draw the intermediate graph at the right. Let
the y-value of that be yI..
Finally care is needed in doing the algebra. To get yI we
divide x by 5:
yI = 502(x/5)
and then to translate by 10 we subtract 10 from x:
yC = 502(x10)/5.

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4. To get the graph at the right I rotated the graph

y = log2(x)
through 180.
(a) Write down an equation for this graph.
(b) Write down an equation for the inverse of the graph and
sketch its graph.

Solution.
(a) The graph is obtained by rotating the graph y = log2(x)
through 180. Now rotations are hard to describe
algebraically, but if we draw both graphs together we can see
that a rotation through 180 can be obtained by two
reflections: first in the x-axis and second in the y-axis.
Algebraically, the first reflection changes the sign of y and the
second changes the sign of x, giving us the equation:
y = log2(x)
defined for x < 0.
(b) The inverse of the graph is obtained by interchanging x
and y and then solving for y. We write
x = log2(y).
How do we solve for y? Most students will do this by raising
both sides to the power 2. But thats not the most direct way.
Write
x = log2(y)
and simply use the definition of log. The equation tells us
that x is the index we need to use (with base 2) to get y.
That is:
y = 2x
y = 2x
This is the equation of the inverse. Its graph is drawn at the
right along with the original graph.

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5. Below is a sketched of the graphs of 13 members of the family

belonging to the r values:

y = rx

r = 1/5, 1/3, 1/2, 1/1.6, 1/1.4, 1/1.2, 1, 1.2, 1.4, 1.6, 2, 3, 5

On a new set of axes, draw graphs of a number of members of the family y = rx x. Show clearly any
asymptotes and find their equations.

6. Since 30 is halfway between 20 and 40, wouldnt you

expect log30 to be halfway between log20 and log40? If not,
should it be bigger or smaller? I want you to make this
argument graphically, but instead of using the graph y =
log(x), I want you to do it with the graph y=10x, a copy of
which is drawn at the right. Work carefully and neatly on the
graph (use a ruler!) and write full explanations.

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