So, a log is just a quick way of writing the inverse function of an exponential function. The term 'log' is just a shorthand way of expressing this difficult bit of math. In other words, there is a difficult mathematical process that was worked out over the course of about 80 years by Nicholas Mercator, Leonhard Euler and others. Careers that use Exponents include Economists, Bankers, Financial Advisors, Insurance Risk Assessors, Biologists, Engineers, Computer Programmers, Chemists, Physicists, Geographers, Sound Engineers, Statisticians, Mathematicians, Geologists and many other professions.The actual definition of a logarithm that proves this is several years ahead of the math you're having now, so it wouldn't mean much to you at this stage.īut, the short answer is that the logarithm was invented to be the inverse operation of an exponential function.

$khan academy exponential functions$

Exponential Decay is associated with Light, Sound, Sporting Fixtures, Dangerous Chemicals, and Radioactive Waste.Exponential Growth is a critically important aspect of Finance, Demographics, Biology, Economics, Resources, Electronics and many other areas.Many of the problems in this exercise are application word problems.Exponentials can be used to model things that grow by a relative rate, for example, compound interest and population.Logarithms are useful in many scales, such as Richter, Decibel and pH.Practice with logarithms increase ability with exponents.With word problems, plugging in information can help to answer the question more efficiently.An exponential equation is generally of the form f ( x ) = a × b x.Knowledge of and experience with exponents and logarithms are encouraged to ensure success on this exercise. The user is supposed to use the given model to answer a question based on the situation. Answer the question using the model: This problem gives an exponential model.

The user is asked to use the description to find a model and use it to answer some related questions.

Find the model and answer the questions: This problem describes a real-life situation.

There are two types of problems in this exercise:

This exercise increases the user's experience with word problems and modeling, specifically with exponential models. The Modeling with exponential functions exercise appears under the Algebra II Math Mission and Mathematics III Math Mission.

Khan academy exponential functions