Main content
Algebra (all content)
Course: Algebra (all content)ย >ย Unit 11
Lesson 29: Graphs of exponential functions (Algebra 2 level)Graphs of exponential functions (old example)
CCSS.Math: ,
Sal matches the following four functions to their appropriate graphs: y=2^x, y=-3^x, y=2-(1/3)^x, y=(1/2)^x-2. Created by Sal Khan.
Want to join the conversation?
- Why -3^x when x=0 results to -1(5 votes)
- if it were written as (-3)^x, when x=0, then y would equal 1, but it is written as -3^x without parenthesis, therefore when x=0, y=-1(9 votes)
- Why does xโฐ = 1?(3 votes)
- Anything to the 0 power is 1. Lets look at a simple example, not some variable.
Follow this pattern3^1 = 3
,3^2 = 9
,3^3 = 27
By observing this pattern we can see that by increasing you are multiplying by 3, and when you decrease you're dividing by 3.3^1 = 3 / 3 = 1
So now we know that3^0 = 1
.
Let's look at another example to prove that anything to the 0 power is 1.
Here's one basic law of exponents.n^x / n^y = n^(x - y)
. Example3^5 / 3^2 = 3^3
, according to the law.3^3 / 3^3 = 3^(3 -
3)
or3^0
. When we look at this problem, we can tell anything divided by itself is 1 .So 3^0
is also proven to be1
.
Hopefully I Haven't Confused You.(9 votes)
- Also, how can I tell if an asymptote is horizontal or vertical in a logarithm(3 votes)
- An asymptote in an exponential function is always horizontal (growth or decay do not differentiate), while in a logarithm is it vertical (because it is the inversion of an exponential function).(1 vote)
- what is the deductive reasoning in 4th graph?(1 vote)
- Deductive reasoning takes existing facts and uses them to draw another conclusion. Here the initial facts are:
1
: which 3 graphs we've already used2
: the remaining graph and remaining function that must be used
Therefore the remaining graph goes with the remaining function.
See https://www.khanacademy.org/math/precalculus/seq_induction/deductive-and-inductive-reasoning for a discussion of what deductive reasoning is.(5 votes)
- in the whole video, which line is x and y??(1 vote)
- In a coordinate system, the x-axis is the horizontal line and the y-axis is the vertical line.(3 votes)
- Is there a specific formula for this? I'm still confused how to solve these?(2 votes)
- Maybe it would help to redo some of the earlier videos and rework the problems there. Sometimes the second time through clears up a lot of confusion.(1 vote)
- What is the graph (4^x)-4(2 votes)
- How would I solve some thing like...
f(x) = -2(1.5)[to the power of x] , g(x) = -2(1.5)[to the power of x] - 2?
What I mean is how do I go through the process for any question like that.
Or is there a video where I could find something like this?(2 votes) - what if like the last equation "y=-3^x" is then "y=-3^-x"? how would the graph change?(2 votes)
- At, what would the graph be if the equation were the other way: 6:25
y = (-3)^x
?(3 votes)- http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=%28-3%29%5Ex
It is mostly imaginary, as fractional exponents require taking roots of the number, but you can see it at the website above.(1 vote)
Video transcript
Voiceover:We have 4 graphs here and then 4 function definitions. What I want you to do is pause this video and think about which of these graphs map up to which of these
function definitions. I'm assuming you've given a go at it. Let's go through each of these and think about what their
graphs would look like. One thing that I like to do, because it's just a simple thing to do, is just think about what
happens when x is equal to 0. Especially when x is
an exponent like this, you would have, let me just write this down, y of 0 is going to be equal
to 2 minus 1/3 to the 0 power. That's equal to 2 minus 1. 1/3 to the 0 is 1, which is equal to 1. In which of these graphs,
when x is equal to 0, do we have y equaling 1? Here, x equals 0, y equals negative 1. Here, x equals 0, y equals negative 1, or it looks like negative 1. Here, x equals 0, y looks like
1, so this is a candidate. Here, x is equal to 0,
y also looks like 1, so these last two seem like a candidate for this function
definition right over here. Now let's think about the
behavior of this function. Let's think about what happens when x approaches a
very, very large number. When x approaches a very large number, let's just imagine y of 1,000, and 1,000 really isn't
that large of a number, but let's just ... That's going to be 2 minus
1/3 to the 1,000th power. Well, 1/3 to the 1,000 power, that's going to be a very,
very, very small number. We're multiplying 1/3 times 1/3, 1/3. You think of 1,000 1/3s and
multiplying them together, I'm sure you're going to get a number very, very close to 0. Let me write this down. This part right over here
is going to be close to 0, close to 0. Another way to think about it is as x increases, this part approaches 0. This is very close to 0. This thing, y of 1,000, y of 1,000 will be close to 2. Or another way of thinking about it, as x gets larger and larger and larger, this part is going to get closer
and closer and closer to 0, so you're going to have 2 minus something that's closer and closer and closer to 0, so as x gets larger, y
is going to approach 2. Which of these two have that behavior? It's clearly this one on the right. As x gets larger and larger and larger, we see that y is getting closer and closer and closer and closer to 2. This one right over here, we could say, is y is equal to 2 minus
1/3 to the x power. We could also think about its
behavior as x gets smaller, as x gets more and more and more negative. So 1/3 to a very negative
number right over here, that's the same thing as 3
to a very positive value. As x gets more and more and more negative, this will be essentially 3 to
a more and more positive value and you're subtracting it from 2, so y is going to become more
and more and more negative. We see that as x becomes
more and more negative, y becomes more and more negative. This, once again, is consistent. Now let's think about this
function right over here. Here, we see y is equal
to 1/2 to the x minus 2. We could, first of all, just think about what y of 0 is. y of 0 is going to be 1/2
to the 0 power minus 2, which is equal to 1 minus 2, which is equal to negative 1. Both of these would be candidates for this function right over here. When x is equal to 0, y is negative 1. When x is equal to 0, y is negative 1. But now let's think about the
behavior of this function. As x becomes larger and
larger and larger values, what is y going to approach? Just like we saw over
here, you have a fraction. You have 1/2 being raised
to larger and larger and larger values. Let's think about this. As this gets raised to
larger and larger values, this part is going to approach 0. 1/2 times 1/2 times 1/2 times 1/2, that's going to approach 0 fairly quickly. As this approaches 0, y is
going to approach negative 2. As x gets larger and larger and larger, 1/2 to the x approaches 0, and so y is going to approach
negative 2 from above. Let's see where we see that. That looks like this one right over here. Once again, we said these
are our two candidates. When x is 0, y is negative 1. Here, we see as x gets
larger and larger and larger, y is approaching negative
2 because this part is becoming smaller and
smaller and smaller values. This one is that one right over there. You could also think about its behavior as x becomes more and more negative. As x becomes more and more negative, that's like raising 2 to a positive value, so 2 to a positive value, you see that as x becomes more negative, y becomes larger and larger and larger. All right, we got two left. y equals 2 to the x. This might be the simplest of all, y equaling 2 to the x power. When x is equal to 0,
y should be equal to 1, and we see that's this
graph right over here, and this is your most basic
type of exponential function. As x increases, y increases. This is your classic
exponential graph shape. As x approaches more and
more negative values, as x approaches more and
more negative values, raising 2 to a very large negative value, so imagine when x is ... imagine y of negative 10. This isn't even that negative. That's going to be 2 to
the negative 10 power, which is the same thing
as 1/2 to the 10th power. As x becomes more and
more and more negative, this expression is going to get closer and closer and closer to 0. This one is clearly that one. Then finally, just deductive reasoning, you could say that this function is represented by that graph, but let's reason through a little bit. This is where order of
operations really matter. When you see negative 3 to the x, it might be a little confusing. You're, like, "Is it negative, "is it the whole negative
3 to the x power, "or is it negative 3 to the x?" Here, we just have to remind ourselves order of operations, exponentials are the top priority
right after a parentheses. You would actually do
your exponential first. You take 3 to the x, and it's going to be the negative of that. It's essentially going to be, it's going to be your
classic exponential function, but because of this negative, you're going to flip it over the x-axis, and that's what this has right over here. As x gets larger and larger and larger, 3 to the x is going to become
a much larger and larger value but then we're taking the negative of it, so y is going to become smaller
and smaller and smaller. Likewise, as x is more and
more and more negative, 3 to the x is going to approach 0. When x is equal to 0, 3 to the 0 is 1, but you have the negative out front, we see y is negative 1. This is y is equal to
negative 3 to the x power.