Math 30-1

Exponents & Logarithms

Applications of Exponential & Logarithmic Equations

Math 30-1
1. Each of the following can be modeled using an exponential function. Indicate which
situations are examples of exponential growth and which are examples of exponential decay.
a) Bacteria in a Petri dish double their number every half hour.
b) The half-life or the radioactive isotope actinium-225 is 10 days.
c) As light passes through every 1 m depth of water in a pond, the amount of light decreases
by 20%.
d) The population of an insect colony triples every day.
2. If seafood is not kept frozen, it will spoil due to bacterial growth. The relative rate of
T

spoilage increases with temperature, according to the model R 100 2.7 8 , where T is the
temperature in degrees Celsius, and R is the relative spoilage rate.
a) What is the relative spoilage rate at 15 C, to the nearest whole number?

b) If the maximum acceptable relative spoilage rate is 500, what is the maximum storage
temperature, to the nearest C?

3. A population of fish starts at 200 and grows at a rate of 6.5% per year.
a) Write the equation that models this situation.
b) How long would it take the fish population to reach 300, to the nearest tenth of a year?

Math 30-1
Exponents & Logarithms

4. The compound interest formula is A P1 i n . All interest rates are expressed as annual
percentage rates.
a) David inherits $10 000 and invests in a GIC that earns 6%, compounded semi-annually.
How long will it take for the GIC to be worth $11 000, to the nearest hundredth of a year?

b) Linda used a credit card to purchase a $1200 laptop. The rate of interest charged on the
overdue balance is 28% per year, compounded daily. How many days is Lindas payment
overdue if the amount shown on her credit card statement is $1241.18?

c) How long will it take for money invested at 5.5 %, compounded quarterly, to triple in
value, to the nearest year?

5. A bacterial culture starts with 2000 bacteria and doubles every 0.75 h. After how many hours
will the bacteria count be 32 000?

Math 30-1
Exponents & Logarithms

6. Cobalt-60 (Co-60) has a half-life of approximately 5.3 years.

a) Write an exponential function to model this situation.

b) What fraction of Co-60 will remain after 26.5 years?

c) How long will it take for a sample of C0-60 to decay to

1
of its original mass?
512

7. Radioisotopes are used to diagnose various illnesses. Iodine-131 (I-131) is administered to a

patient to diagnose thyroid gland activity. The original dosage contains 280 MBq of I-131.
After 6 hours there are 274 MBq of I-131 in the patients thyroid. What is the half-life of I131, to the nearest day?

Math 30-1
Exponents & Logarithms

8. On a scuba dive, Petras light meter shows that the amount of light available decreases by
10% for every 10 m she descends.
a) Write the exponential function that relates the amount of light, L, as a percent of light
available to the depth, d, of the dive in metres.

b) What percent of light will reach Petra if she dives to a depth of 25 m, to the nearest tenth?

c) If there is only 50% of light reaching Petra, how deep is she, to the nearest tenth of a
metre?

9. The formula for the Richter magnitude, M, of an earthquake is M log

A
, where A is the
A0

amplitude of the ground motion, and A0 is the reference amplitude. In 1935, an earthquake
with magnitude 6.9 on the Richter scale was recorded in the Nahanni region of the Northwest
Territories. The largest recorded earthquake in Saskatchewan occurred in 1982 near the town
of Big Beaver. It had a magnitude of 3.9 on the Richter scale. How many times greater was
the magnitude of the Nahanni earthquake than the Saskatchewan earthquake?

10. The logarithmic scale used to express the pH of a solution is pH log[ H ] , where [ H ]
is the hydrogen ion concentration in moles per litre (mol/L).
4

Math 30-1
Exponents & Logarithms

a) Lactic acidosis is a medical condition characterized by elevated lactates and a blood pH

of less than 7.35. A patient is severely ill when his or her blood pH is 7.0. Find the
hydrogen ion concentration in a patient with a blood pH of 7.0.

b) The average pH of acid rain in some regions of Ontario is about 4.5. How many times
more acidic is this acid rain than normal rain which has a pH of 5.6?

c) The hair conditioner that Alana uses is 500 times as acidic as the shampoo she uses. If
the shampoo has a pH of 6.1, find the pH of the conditioner.

11. The Palermo Technical Impact Hazard scale was developed to rate the potential hazard of a
near-Earth object. The Palermo scale, P, is defined as P log R , where R is the relative
risk. Compare the relative risk of two asteroids, one with P 1.66 and one with
P 4.83 .

I
I0

12. Sound intensity, , in decibels is defined as 10 log

, where I is the intensity of the

sound measured in watts per square metre (W/m ), and I o 10 12 W/m2, the threshold of
2

hearing.
5

Math 30-1
Exponents & Logarithms

a) The sound intensity of a hairdryer is 0.00001 W/m2. Find its decibel level.

b) A fire truck siren has a decibel level of 118 dB. City traffic has a decibel level of 85 dB.
How many times as loud as city traffic is the fire truck siren?

c) The sound of Elis farm tractor is 63 times as intense as the sound of his car. If the
decibel level of the car is 80 dB, what is the decibel level of the farm tractor?

13. Abdi incorrectly states a noise of 20 dB is twice as loud as a noise of 10 dB. Explain the
error in Abdis reasoning.

Answers:
1. a) growth
b) decay
2. a) 649
b) 13C
3. a) P 2001.065 t
4. a) 1.61 years
b) 44 days

c) decay

d) growth

b) 6.4 years
c) 20 years

Math 30-1
Exponents & Logarithms

5. 3 h
6. a)

1
P

t
5.3

b)

1
32

c) 47.7 years

7. 8 days
d

8. a) L 100 0.9 10
b) 76.8%
c) 65.8 m
9. 1000 times greater
10. a) 10 7.0
b) 12.6 times as acidic
c) 3.4
11. The first asteroid is 1479 times more dangerous than the second.
12. a) 70 dB
b) 1995 times as loud
c) 98 dB
13. You cant just divide the decibel level; you must compare the intensities, as follows:
20 10
I2
10 10 10 times as loud
I1