MAT 31101 College Algebra: Functions 19 Oct to 26 Oct, 2024
1. Use natural or common logarithms to eval- be in 10 years? Use the formula for expo-
uate the following to four decimal places. nential growth:
(a) log 5 140 P (t) = P0 · ert
(b) log 7 2506
where P0 is the initial population, r is the
(c) log 16 57.2 growth rate, and t is time in years.
(d) log 0.1 17 8. A radioactive substance has a half-life of
2. Suppose a $125000 piece of machinery is 5 years. If you start with 200 grams of
depreciating at 9.5% a year. How much the substance, how much will remain after
will it be worth after 5 years? 15 years? Use the formula for exponential
decay:
3. The population of black flies in the summer A(t) = A0 · e−kt
grows at a rate of 50% every two days. If
where A0 is the initial amount, k is the
there were 5000 flies on November 14, how
decay constant, and t is time.
many flies will there be on November 30?
9. You invest $1,000 in a savings account that
4. A biologist is researching a newly-
offers 5% interest compounded annually.
discovered species of bacteria. At time t = 0
What will the balance be after 7 years?
hours, he puts 100 bacteria into what he
Use the formula:
has determined to be a favorable growth
medium. Six hours later, he measures 450
r
nt
bacteria. Assuming exponential growth, A = P 1+
n
what is the growth constant k for the bac-
teria? (Round k to 2 decimal places). where P is the principal, r is the annual
interest rate, n is the number of times in-
5. In 2000, the population of Africa was 807 terest is compounded per year, and t is the
million and by 2011 it had grown to 1052 time in years.
million.
10. A culture of bacteria grows exponentially.
(a) Find the exponential growth function If the number of bacteria doubles every 4
that models the data. hours and there were initially 500 bacteria,
(b) By which year will Africa’s population how many will there be after 12 hours? Use
reach three billion? the exponential growth formula:
6. The population of a certain species of fish N (t) = N0 · 2t/T
has a relative growth rate of 1.2% per year.
It is estimated that the population in 2020 where N0 is the initial number of bacteria,
was 12 million. T is the doubling time, and t is the time
elapsed.
(a) Find the exponential model for the
population t years after 2020. 11. The value of a car depreciates at a rate of
15% per year. If the initial value of the car
(b) Estimate the fish population in the was $30,000, what will its value be after 5
year 2025. years? Use the exponential decay formula:
(c) After how many years will the popu-
lation reach 14 million? V (t) = V0 · e−rt
(d) Sketch the graph of the fish popula- where V0 is the initial value, r is the depre-
tion.. ciation rate, and t is the time in years.
7. A certain town’s population is growing at 12. A hot cup of coffee cools exponentially. The
an annual rate of 3%. If the current popu- temperature of the coffee is initially 90°C
lation is 25,000, what will the population and it cools to 60°C after 20 minutes in a
MAT 31101 College Algebra: Functions 19 Oct to 26 Oct, 2024
room at 25°C. How long will it take for the 17. An amount of $2,500 is invested in a bank
coffee to cool to 40°C? Use Newton’s Law that offers 4.5% interest compounded con-
of Cooling: tinuously. How much will be in the account
after 6 years? Use the formula for continu-
T (t) = Troom + (T0 − Troom ) · e−kt ous compounding:
where T0 is the initial temperature, Troom is A = P · ert
the room temperature, and k is a constant
related to the cooling rate. where P is the principal, r is the interest
13. How long will it take for an investment of rate, and t is the time.
$5,000 to double in value if it is invested 18. The concentration of a drug in the blood-
at an interest rate of 6% compounded an- stream decays exponentially. If a dose re-
nually? Use the doubling time formula for sults in an initial concentration of 80 mg/L
exponential growth: and the concentration decreases by 20%
every hour, what will the concentration be
ln(2)
t= after 5 hours? Use the formula:
r
where r is the interest rate. C(t) = C0 · e−kt
14. The half-life of carbon-14 is about 5,730 where C0 is the initial concentration and k
years. If an artifact originally had 100 is the decay constant.
grams of carbon-14, how much carbon-14
remains after 11,460 years? Use the expo- 19. The intensity of an earthquake, measured
nential decay formula: on the Richter scale, is modeled exponen-
tially. If an earthquake of magnitude 6.0
A(t) = A0 · e −kt releases 100 times more energy than one
of magnitude 4.0, how much more energy
where A0 is the initial amount of carbon-14, does a magnitude 7.0 earthquake release
and k is the decay constant derived from than a 5.0 one? Use the relationship:
the half-life.
E = E0 · 10M
15. The population of a species of fish is declin-
ing at a rate of 8% per year. If there are where E is the energy, M is the magnitude,
currently 1,200 fish in a lake, how many and E0 is a constant.
will be left in 6 years? Use the exponential
decay formula:
P (t) = P0 · e−rt
where P0 is the current population, r is the
decline rate, and t is time.
16. A student loan of $10,000 is repaid with an
interest rate of 6% per year. If the loan is
not paid back for 3 years, how much will
the total amount owed be after 3 years?
Use the formula for compound interest:
nt
r
A = P 1+
n
where P is the principal, r is the interest
rate, n is the number of times interest is
compounded per year, and t is time.
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