PROBLEM SET

I. Use the properties of logarithms to express the following as a single

logarithm.

1. 2 log

2. log 5 + 2log (6x+5) - [log (2x+1) + 3 log (x – 2)]

3. 2(log + 3 log )

4. Log(e3 ) (x9) – lnx

5. Log2 14 – 1 - log2 12 + log4 3

6. 2 log + 3 log – 4[ log - log (xy)]

II. Solve for x.

1. log9 (log6 (log3 (x+3))) = 0

2. ln =

3. -

4. 16(log9 x)4 – (log3 x3)2 + 8 = 0

5. e3x – 2e2x + 3ex – 6 = 0

6. =4

7. 81[log27 (x+1)]4 – [log3 (x2 + 2x +1]2 + 3 =0

III. Let loga 3 = r, loga 4 = s, and loga 5 = t . Write each expression in terms of r,
s, and/or t.

1. log1/a 18

2. loga2

3. log √a
 2
4. log 1/a

IV. Sketch the graph of the given function. Give the domain and range of each.

1. y = lnx

2. y = log2 ( x – 3)

3. y = log3 (-x)

4. y = log1/2 ( x – 3 ) – 2

5. y = ln

V. PROBLEM SOLVING

1. Marissa drops a small rubber ball from a height of 6m onto a hard surface.
After each bounce, the ball rebounds to 60% of the maximum height of the
previous bounce.

a. Create an equation to model the height of the ball as it bounces.

b. Estimate the height after 12 bounces.

2. Helen compared two different strains of bacteria. The bacteria in culture A

began with a mass of 35 mg and doubled in mass every 3 hours. The bacteria
in culture B began with a mass of 85mg and tripled in mass every 4 hours

a. What is the growth rate of each culture?

b. When will the cultures have the same mass? Justify your answer in two
ways.

3. At age 35, a man makes an investment that will grow to 2.5 million once he
turns 53. How much should the investment be if:

a. Interest is compounded semi-annually at 7%?

b. Interest is compounded monthly at 6%?

c. Interest is compounded daily at 5.75%?

4. What will yield a larger return on investment after 20 years: An annual interest
rate of 4% compounded semi-annually or an annual interest rate of 3.5%
compounded continuously?
5. A certain amount is invested at rate of 8% interest per annum with continuous
compounding. What is the equivalent rate(i.e., the rate that will yield the same
amount after one year) with quarterly compounding?

6. World population is reckoned to increase exponentially at the rate of 2% a

year. If world population was estimated to be 7,100 million in 2000,

a. What would have been the estimated world population in 1990?

b. What will be the world population in 2015?

7. Radium-226 has a half-life of 1620 years.

a. What is the equation of decay?

b. How long will 60g of the bacteria are reduced to 7.5g?

c. How much will remain of the 60g after 200 years?

8. A piece of charcoal is found to contain 25% of the carbon-14 that originally

had. When did the tree ( from which the charcoal came from) die? Use 5600
years as the half-life of carbon-14.

9. The Mesopotamian civilization was dated by using carbon-14 dating. A piece of

wood discovered in an archaeological dig was found to have lost 62% of its
carbon-14. Determine its age.

10. The 1971 San Fernando, California, earthquake released 1.99 x 1014 joules of
energy. Compute its magnitude on the Richter Scale using the formula M =

log , where E0 = 104.40 joules. Compute the answer to one decimal place.

11. Suppose the value of a certain antique collection increases with age and its
rate of appreciation at any time is proportional to its value at that time. Then a
simple mathematical model which gives the value y at time t in years is y = y0ekt
where y0 and k are constants. If the present value of the collection doubles in 5
years, what will be the value of the collection 20 years from now?

12. Another example of exponential decay is the decrease in atmospheric pressure

with increasing height above sea level. In the formula P = P0 , where p is
the atmospheric pressure (mm of mercury) at height h above sea level
(meters). If the atmospheric pressure is 42mm at a height of 20 km, what is the
pressure P0 at sea level?