Applications of Exponential Functions

The best thing about exponential

functions is that they are so
useful in real world situations

Exponential functions
are used to :

1)
2)
3)
4)
5)

model populations
carbon date artifacts
help coroners determine time of death
compute investments
as well as many other applications

1. Population
Many times scientists will start with a certain
number of bacteria or animals and watch
how the population grows. For example, if
the population doubles every 5 days, this can
be represented as an exponential function.
Most population models involve using the
number e. To learn more about e, click here
(link to exp-log-e and ln.doc)

Population
Models
can occur
two ways :

1st way: if we are given

an exponential function

2nd way: involves coming up with

an exponential equation
based on information given

Let's Practice:

(1) The population of a city is P = 250,342e0.012t where t =

0 represents the population in the year 2000.

a. Find the population of the city in the year 2010.
b. Find the population of the city in the year 2015.
c. Find when the population will be 320,000.

Answer :
(1) a. To find the population in the year 2010, we need to let t =
10 in our given equation.
P = 250,342e0.012(10) = 250,342e0.12 = 282,259.82
Since we are dealing with the population of a city, we
normally round to a whole number, in this case 282,260
people.
b. To find the population in the year 2015, we need to let t =
15.
P = 250,342e 0.012(15) = 250,342e 0.18 = 299,713.8
Well round this answer to 299,714 people.

c.

We know the population in the year 2015 is almost 300,000 from our
work in part (b).
So it makes sense that the answer has to be higher than 2015.
Remember that P in the equation represents the population value,
which we are given to be 320,000.
Only now we do not know the time value t. The equation we need to
solve is 320,000 = 250,342e 0.012(t)

So it will take
between 20 and
21 years for the
population to
reach 320,000.
This means
between the
years 2020 and
2021 the
population will be
320,000.

Summary:

Before we do the next example, lets look at a

general form for population models. Most of the
time, we start with an equation that looks like:
P = Poekt

P represents the population after a certain amount

of time
Po represents the initial population or the population
at the beginning
k represents the growth (or decay) rate
t represents the amount of time
Remember that e is not a variable, it has a numeric
value. We do not replace it with information given to
us in the problem.

Let's Practice this once more:

(1) A scientist starts with 100 bacteria in an experiment.

After 5 days, she discovers that the population has
grown to 350.
a. Determine an equation for this bacteria population.
b. Use the equation to find out the population after 15
days.
c. Use the equation to find out when the population is
1000.

Answers :
(1) a. To find the equation, we need to know values for Po and k.
Remember the equation is in the form P = Poekt. where P, e, and t are all
parts of the equation we will come up with. We only need values for Po
and k. Po is given by the amount the scientist starts with which is 100.
Finding k requires a little more work.
We know that Pois 100 and after t = 5 days the population P is 350. We
can use this information to find k.

Now that we know k, we go back

to our general form of and
replace Po and k. So our
equation is
P = 100e 0.25055t

b. We will substitute the value of 15 for t in P = 100e0.25055t.

P = 100e0.25055(15) = 100e3.75825 = 4287.33
or approximately 4287 bacteria after 15 days.
c. We will set our equation equal to 1000 to get 1000 = 100e 0.25055t and
solve.
So between 9 and 10
days, the bacteria
population will be
1000

2. Exponential Decay
Solving an exponential decay problem is very
similar to working with population growth. In
fact, certain populations may decrease
instead of increase and we could still use the
general formula we used for growth. But in
the case of decrease or decay, the value of k
will be negative.

Let's Practice:

(1)The number of milligrams of a drug in a persons

system after t hours is given by the function D =
20e-0.4t.
a.Find the amount of the drug after 2 hours.
b. Find the amount of the drug after 5 hours.
c. When will the amount of the drug be 0.1
milligram (or almost completely gone from the
system)?

Answer :
(1) a. To solve the problem we let t = 2 in the original equation.
D = 20e-0.4(2) = 20e-0.8 = 8.987
After 2 hours, 8.987 milligrams of the drug are left in the system.
b. Replace t with 5 in the equation to get
D = 20e-0.4(5) = 20e-2.0 = 2.707
After 5 hours, 2.707 milligrams remain in the body.
c. We need to let D = 0.1 and solve the equation 0.1 = 20e-0.4t
After approximately 13 hours and 15
minutes, the amount of the drug will
be almost gone with only 0.1
milligrams remaining in the body.

3. Compound Interest
The formula for interest that is compounded is

A represents the amount of money after a certain amount of time

P represents the principle or the amount of money you start with
r represents the interest rate and is always represented as a decimal
n is the number of times interest is compounded in one year
if interest is compounded annually then n = 1
if interest is compounded quarterly then n = 4
if interest is compounded monthly then n = 12
t represents the amount of time in years

Let's Practice:

(1) Suppose your parents invest $1000 in a savings

account for college at the time you are born. The
average interest rate is 4% and is compounded
quarterly. How much money will be in the college
account when you are 18 years old?
(2) Suppose your parents had invested that same $1000 in
a money market account that averages 8% interest
compounded monthly. How much would you have for
college after 18 years?

Answer :

(1)We will use our formula

and let
P = 1000, r = 0.04, n = 4 and t = 18.

(2)P = 1000, r = 0.08, n = 12 and t = 18

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