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    M1400 LectNotes Sec5.1

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    M1400 LectNotes Sec5.1

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    MATH 1400: Calculus for Social and Life Sciences I

    Section 5.1: Exponential Growth and Decay

    In this chapter, we look at the many practical applications of the ex-


    ponential and natural logarithm functions.

    Recall from Section 4.3, that given a function y = f (t) = Cekt, where
    C and k are arbitrary constants, the function’s derivative is:

    Differential Equations

    A differential equation is an equation which expresses a relation-


    ship between a function and one or more of its derivatives.

    If y = f (t) satisfies the differential equation y 0 = ky, then y is an


    exponential function of the form y = Cekt.

    y 0 = ky −→ y = Cekt

    where C is an arbitrary constant.

    1
    2

    Example 1. Determine all functions y = f (t) such that y 0 = −0.2y.

    Initial conditions

    When f (t) = Cekt then f (0) = C. This value is often called the
    initial condition.

    If no initial condition is given, then the differential equation y 0 = ky


    has an infinite number of solutions.

    However, if an initial condition is given, then y 0 = ky has a single


    solution.

    y
    Example 2. Determine all functions y = f (t) such that y 0 = 2 and
    f (0) = 4.
    3

    Exponential Growth

    Suppose P (t) is the number of bacteria in a culture at time t. The


    rate of growth P 0(t) is proportional to the number of bacteria at time
    t:
    P 0(t) = kP (t) −→ P (t) = Cekt

    Since C = P (0), we use notation C = P0

    P (t) = P0ekt

    where k is the growth constant and P0 is the initial value.

    Example 3. A certain bacteria culture grows at a rate proportional


    to its size. At time t = 0, 20, 000 cells are present. In t = 5 hours,
    there are 400, 000 cells. Derive a function which expresses the number
    of cells in the culture as a function of time, measured in hours.
    4

    Example 4. A colony of fruit flies is growing according to an expo-


    nential growth equation P (t) = P0ekt where t is in days. Furthermore,
    the size of the colony doubles in 9 days.
    (a) Determine the growth constant k.

    (b) Let P0 = 100, i.e. P (t) = 100e.077t. How large will the colony be
    after 41 days? (Round your answer to the nearest whole number.)

    (c) How fast will the colony be growing at that time (41 days)?
    (Round your answer to the nearest whole number.)
    5

    (d) At what time (how many days) will the colony contain 800 fruit
    flies? (Round your answer to the nearest whole number.)

    (e) How large is the colony when it is growing at the rate of 200 fruit
    flies per day? (Round your answer to the nearest whole number.)
    6

    Exponential Decay

    Some processes satisfy P 0(t) = kP (t) but decrease over time. These
    processes undergo exponential decay:

    P 0(t) = −λP (t) −→ P (t) = P0e−λt

    where λ is the decay constant and P0 is the initial value.

    Example 5. Radioactive elements, such as Uranium-235 and Strontium-


    90 lose their mass (decay) over time. This process is exponential and
    the decay constant λ indicates the speed of this process. The decay
    constant for Strontium-90 is λ = 0.0244 where time is measured in
    years. How long will it take for a quantity of Strontium-90 to decay to
    one-half its mass? (Round your answer to the nearest year.)
    7

    14
    Example 6. Radioactive Carbon-14, denoted C, has a half-life of
    5730 years. Find its decay constant.

    Example 7. A parchment fragment (made at some point from a tree)


    has 80% of the 14C found in living matter. Estimate the age of the
    parchment. (Round your answer to the nearest year.)

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