MHF4U Graphing Exponential Functions and Its Inverse

1. Using a table of values, graph the function y=2x .

−3
−2
−1
0
1
2
3
4

2. Complete the following table.

y=2x
x -intercept
y -intercept
Domain
Range
Asymptote Eqns
Increasing or
Decreasing
End Behaviours

3. Using a table of values, graph the functions y=3 x and y=5 x on grid above.

x y=3
x
x y=5
x

−3 −3
−2 −2
−1 −1
0 0
1 1
2 2
3 3
4 4

4. Discuss the similarities between the functions y=2x , y=3 x and y=5 x .
 ()
5. Using a table of values, graph the function y=
1 x
2
on the same grid as y=2x .

()
x 1 x
y=
2
−3
−2
−1
0
1
2
3
4

6. Complete the table.

()
x
1
y=
2
x -intercept
y -intercept
Domain
Range
Asymptote Eqns
Increasing or
Decreasing
End Behaviours

()
x
1
7. Discuss the differences and similarities between the functions y=2 and y=
x
.
2

8. What point is common to all of these exponential functions? __________ Why?

x y=2
x

−3
−2
−1
0
1
2
3
4

12. Graph the inverse of y=2x on the same grid. (Recall: the inverse is a reflection over the line
_________ )

13. For the inverse function above, state:

Inverse of y=2x
x -intercept
y -intercept
Domain
Range
Asymptote Eqns
Increasing or
Decreasing
End Behaviours
 ()
14. Using a table of values (no decimals), graph the function y=
1 x
2
on the grid below.

()
x 1
x
y=
2
−3
−2
−1
0
1
2
3
4

()
x
1
15. Graph the inverse of y= on the same grid.
2

16. For the inverse function state its:

()
x
1
Inverse of y=
2
x -intercept
y -intercept
Domain
Range
Asymptote Eqns
Increasing or
Decreasing
End Behaviours
Summary Chart
x
y=b Inverse of y=b x
b> 0, b ≠ 1
Sketch b> 1 b> 1

0<b<1 0< b<1

Domain

Range

x -intercept

y -intercept

Asymptotes

When is the
function
increasing?

When is the
function
decreasing?

Example 1 Determine the equation for the data below.

x y
0 3
1 9
2 27
3 81
4 243
5 729
Example 2 Determine the equation for each relation.
a) b) c)
x y x y x y
0 2 0 5 1 0
1 8 1 6 3 1
2 32 2 9 9 2
3 128 3 14 27 3
4 256 4 21 81 4

Example 3 Describe the transformations that can be applied to the base function to
obtain the graph of each function. Rewrite the equation if necessary.
−1 x−2
a) y= ( 3 ) +4
2

()
−x
1 2
−2
b) y= −3
2

( )
1
The graph of f ( x )= 2 9 2
x+ 1
Example 4 can be obtained by applying a vertical stretch or
27
compression to the graph of y=3 x . Determine the stretch/compression factor.
Example 5 A culture of 15 bacteria divides in half every day. Graph its growth for 5 days.
a) Write an equation where t represents the number of days and B represents the
amount of bacteria.
b) Find the number of bacteria after 15 days.
c) Determine the average rate of change between days 3 and 4.
d) Determine the instant rate of change at 5 days.
e) How long will it take to have 1000 bacteria?
Thinking
The graph of the function y=f (x ) is obtained by applying a horizontal stretch by a factor of 4,
followed by a horizontal shift 3 units left, to the base graph of y=2x . Find ( f ( x ) ) ( f ( 2−x )) .