EXPONENTIAL FUNCTION
Example: Sketch the graph of the function 𝒇(𝒙) = 𝒙𝒆𝒙 , using derivatives.
Answer: First, the domain of f(x) is all the real numbers. Next, we can find the intercepts.
To find the y-intercept, we substitute x=0 into f(x) ⇒ f (0) = 0. So, our y-intercept is 0.
To find the x-intercepts of our curve, we need to find the values of x that satisfy the
equation f(x)=0. For this to happen, 𝑥𝑒 𝑥 = 0 ⇒x =0. We then note that there are no real
roots of the exponential 𝑒 𝑥 . Hence, the curve has its only x-intercept at 0.
−𝑦
lim 𝑓(𝑥) = lim 𝑥𝑒 𝑥 = +∞, lim 𝑓(𝑥) = lim 𝑥𝑒 𝑥 = lim (−𝑦)𝑒 −𝑦 = lim = 0. (we
𝑥→∞ 𝑥→∞ 𝑥→−∞ 𝑥→−∞ 𝑦→+∞ 𝑦→∞ 𝑒 𝑦
used the substitution x = -y)
Therefore, we can conclude that the function has a horizontal asymptote, y= 0, when 𝑥 →
−∞.
The domain of the function is all the real number, in this case the function has not a
vertical asymptote.
We can check if the function has a slant asymptote when 𝑥 → ∞.
𝑓(𝑥)
The equation of the slant asymptote is 𝑦 = 𝑚𝑥 + 𝑛, where 𝑚 = lim , and 𝑛 =
𝑥→∞ 𝑥
𝑓(𝑥) 𝑥𝑒 𝑥
lim ( 𝑓(𝑥) − 𝑚𝑥). So, 𝑚 = lim = lim = lim 𝑒 𝑥 = ∞. Therefore, the function has
𝑥→∞ 𝑥→∞ 𝑥 𝑥→∞ 𝑥 𝑥→∞
not a slant asymptote.
Next, we can find more information about our curve by using derivatives.
The first part requires us to find an expression for 𝑓′(𝑥). There are few options for doing
this; we will use the product rule: this means 𝑓′(𝑥)= 𝑒 𝑥 + 𝑥𝑒 𝑥 = 𝑒 𝑥 (𝑥 + 1). Now, we must
find the critical points of 𝑓(x). So, to find the critical points of 𝑓, we can start by
solving 𝑓′(𝑥)=0, this means the 𝑥 + 1 = 0, which gives 𝑥 = −1. We then note that there
are no real roots of the exponential equation, 𝑒 𝑥 = 0. Therefore, 𝑓 has a critical point
at 𝑥=−1.
We can find the type of critical point by using the first derivative test, that is, considering
the sign of the slope of our curve on either side of the critical point.
We can see that the slope of 𝑓 changes from negative to positive about 𝑥=−1,so 𝑓 must
have a local minimum at this point.
We can find the coordinates of this local maximum by evaluating the original function
1
at 𝑥=−1;this gives us 𝑓(−1) = −𝑒 −1 = − 𝑒.
We can also find the intervals of increase and decrease for 𝑓 by checking where 𝑓′(𝑥) is
positive and negative.
To do this, let’s start with 𝑓′(𝑥)= 𝑒 𝑥 (𝑥 + 1)
We can then find these values of 𝑥:−20𝑥−10>0 ⇒−20𝑥>10 ⇒𝑥<−1/2.
Therefore, for values of 𝑥 in the domain of 𝑓,𝑓′(𝑥) is negative when 𝑥<−1 and positive
when 𝑥>−1.
So, 𝑓 is decreasing when 𝑥<−1 and increasing when 𝑥>−1 (and 𝑥 is in the domain of 𝑓).
x -2 -1 0
𝑓’(x) <0 0 >0
We can determine the convexity of the curve by considering the sign of its second
derivative. We can differentiate the first derivative by using the product rule to
get 𝑓′′(𝑥)= 𝑒 𝑥 + 𝑒 𝑥 (𝑥 + 1) = 𝑒 𝑥 (𝑥 + 2).
The sign of the second derivative is determined by x+2. We note that this is negative
if 𝑥<−2 and positive if 𝑥>−2 .Hence, the curve is concave when 𝑥<−2 and convex
when −2<𝑥.We can also note that the convexity of the curve changes at 𝑥=−2,so this is
point of inflection.
This is enough to sketch our curve.
x -3 -2 -1 0
𝑓’(x) <0 <0 0 >0
𝑓’’(x) <0 0 >0 >0
f (x) −2 −1 0
𝑒
𝑒2
This gives us the following sketch.