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6103 Lecture2

1. Exponents allow us to define power functions of the form f(x) = x^a, where a is a constant. Laws of exponents allow operations like multiplication and exponentiation of exponents. 2. To define functions of the form f(x) = a^x for any real exponent x, the nth root and rational exponent properties are introduced. This ensures the laws of exponents hold for any real exponents. 3. An exponential function can now be defined for any real base a and exponent x as f(x) = a^x. The domain is all real numbers and the range is positive real numbers. Graphs of exponential functions vary depending on whether the base a is greater than

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27 views

6103 Lecture2

1. Exponents allow us to define power functions of the form f(x) = x^a, where a is a constant. Laws of exponents allow operations like multiplication and exponentiation of exponents. 2. To define functions of the form f(x) = a^x for any real exponent x, the nth root and rational exponent properties are introduced. This ensures the laws of exponents hold for any real exponents. 3. An exponential function can now be defined for any real base a and exponent x as f(x) = a^x. The domain is all real numbers and the range is positive real numbers. Graphs of exponential functions vary depending on whether the base a is greater than

Uploaded by

Maliha Akter
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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CHAPTER 1.

FUNCTIONS 4

1.3.1 Exponents

We have seen the function f (x) = x2 . In general, a function of the form f (x) = xa , where
a is a constant, is called a power function. For example,

f (x) = x5 , a = 5,
p
f (x) = x, a = 1/2, x 0.

What about f (x) = ax ? Can we define a function of this form? Yes, we can, but we need
to explore the meaning of ax , when x is not a positive integer.

REVISION: when we wish to multiply a number by itself several times, we make use of
index or power notation. We have notation for powers:
x
z }| {
a2 = a · a, a3 = a · a · a, ax = a · a . . . a · a, a 2 R, x 2 N.

Here, a is called the base and x is called the index or power. We also know the following
properties (laws of exponents)

1. ax+y = ax · ay , e.g. 25 = 2 · 2 · 2 · 2 · 2 = 23 · 22 , x = 3, y = 2.

2. (ax )y = axy , e.g. 36 = 32⇥3 = 3 · 3 · 3 · 3 · 3 · 3 = 32 · 32 · 32 = (32 )3 .

3. ax · bx = (ab)x , e.g. 23 · 33 = 2 · 2 · 2 · 3 · 3 · 3 = (2 · 3)(2 · 3)(2 · 3) = (2 · 3)3 .

These laws hold for any a 2 R and x, y 2 N.

Now we want to generalise the notation for the power to include whole numbers, fractions
and irrational numbers, so that ax makes sense for most values of a and all x 2 R. The
idea is to make laws of exponents hold generally.

First, we choose a0 = 1 (a 6= 0) so that

a2 = a2+0 = a2 · a0 = a2 , i.e. ax = ax+0 = ax · a0 = ax .

Second, we choose

1 1 2 1 n 1
a = , a = ,...,a = , n 2 N,
a a2 an
so that

a2 · a 2
= a2 2
= a0 = 1, or an · a n
= an n
= a0 = 1, for all n 2 N.

We choose

p
a1/2 = a (the square root of a, a 0),
CHAPTER 1. FUNCTIONS 5

p
a1/3 = 3
a (the cube root of a, a 2 R),
..
.
p
a1/n = n
a (the nth root of a. If n is even, a 0; otherwise any a 2 R is O.K.)

so that

1 1
a1/2 · a1/2 = a 2 + 2 = a1 = a,
1 1 1
a1/3 · a1/3 · a1/3 = a 3 + 3 + 3 = a1 = a,
..
.
n
z }| {
1 1 1 n
1/n 1/n 1/n
a · a ...a = a n + n +···+ n = a n = a1 = a.

If x is a rational number, then x = p/q, where p and q are integers and q > 0. Then

ax = ap/q = (a1/q )p = (ap )1/q (order doesn’t matter).

Therefore, ax makes sense for any rational number x.

If x is an irrational number, then we can always find two rational numbers c and d which
are sufficiently close to x and which satisfy c < x < d. So

a c < ad if a 1; a c > ad if 0 < a < 1.

It can be shown that there is exactly one number between ac and ad . We define this
number as ax .

Finally, an exponential function can be defined by

f (x) = ax , x 2 R,

where a is a positive constant. The domain of f is R and the range is R+ . Graph:

(a) y = ax , a > 1. (b) y = ax , 0 < a < 1.

Figure 1.4: Comparison of exponent graphs for di↵erent values of a.


CHAPTER 1. FUNCTIONS 6

Summary:

If a and b are positive numbers, x and y are any real numbers, then we have

1 ax+y = ax · ay ,
ax
2 ax y = ay ,

3 (ax )y = axy ,

4 ax · bx = (ab)x .

There is also a special exponential function, f = ex , we will investigate this further later
in the course.2

2
End Lecture 2.

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