Mathematician _________________________________________________ Date __________
1 (a) Graph y = 2 x .
(b) Draw the line y = x .
(c) Graph the inverse of y = 2 x .
(d) What is the equation of this inverse?
The inverse of the exponential function y = a x is called the logarithmic function base a. We generally
restrict the values of a so that a > 1 . Thus
y = log a x ⇔ x = a y
Characteristics of Graphs of y = log a x
Domain
Range
Intercepts
Horizontal asymptote
Vertical asymptote
2. Write in exponential form.
1
(a) log 6 36 = 2 (b) log8 2 = (c) log 2 2 = 1
3
3. Write in logarithmic form.
(a) 43 = 64 (b) 6 0 = 1 (c) 0.01 = 10−2
4. Evaluate the following. Start by letting the given expression equal x.
1
(a) log 4 64 (c) log 9 3 (c) log 7 49
There are two types of logarithms built into your calculator – what are they?
5 (a) Evaluate (no calculator)
1
(i) log (ii) ln e4
1000
(b) Evaluate (with a calculator)
(i) log 500 (ii) ln 0.47
(c) Solve for x. (with a calculator)
(i) log x = 3.5 (ii) ln x = 4.1
6. A graph and table for the function y = log 2 x are shown below.
x 0.5 1 2 4 8
y = log 2 x −1 0 1 2 3
(a) Use transformations to make a table and graph
for f (x) = 3log 2 ( x − 2 ) .
x
f (x) = 3log 2 ( x − 2 )
(b) State the domain, range, and equation of the vertical
asymptote for f (x) = 3log 2 ( x − 2 ) .
(c) Find the equation of f −1 , the inverse function of f.
7. This function cannot be analyzed simply through transformations. Use your calculator to fill in the
3ln x
chart, and then sketch a graph of f (x) = .
x
Domain
Range
Intercept(s)
Asymptote(s)
Relative max/min
Increasing/Decreasing
4 y
-‐4 -‐3 -‐2 -‐1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
-‐2
-‐4
8) Solving Logarithmic Equations- In the expression log a M remember that a and M are positive
and that a ≠ 1 . Be sure to check for extraneous solutions by plugging into your original
equation. Sometimes to solve a logarithmic equation you can turn the logarithmic expression
into an exponential equation.
(a) Solve: log 3 ( 4x − 7 ) = 2 log x 64 = 2
(b) Solve: e2 x = 5
***Time Permitting, Example 10 from textbook, p. 292