Name: ________________________ Date: __________________________

MCR3U – Quick Lesson on Exponential Functions

	This will be reviewed in class on Tuesday, and it is the last segment of the unit on sequences.  For those who wish to finish their assignment during the snow day, this will help.

Solve the following
a) 	Clearly, x = 3.  We can extend this and say that any time that the bases are the same, the exponents are equivalent.

b) 
	drop the bases and solve the equation
	2x – 1 = 4
	2x = 5
	x = 2.5

	The only time this gets difficult is when the bases are not the same.

c) 
	In this type of question, convert the bases to the smallest thing possible.
We’ll say that	 8 = 2³, so we can rewrite our equation as:

	Please note that I put the (x - 1) in brackets, because the x-1 relates entirely to the 3 inside the brackets.  Before we drop the bases we will expand the brackets

	drop the bases

	We’ll go over this in much greater detail in Tuesday’s class.  I would strongly suggest that students begin preparing for their test on Thursday

Mr. Sadler