6 - Exponentials and Logarithms

Abstract

This chapter discusses two of the most important classes of functions of mathematics: the exponential and logarithmic functions. There are two different ways to define the exponential and logarithmic functions. The first of these starts with the basic rules of exponents. The second way starts off with a special integral. The chapter illustrates the relationship between the graph or a function f and the graph of its inverse function f–1. The graphs of f and f–1 are inverse of one another about the line y = x. If a is any positive number, then an exponential function is a function of the form f(x) = ax where x can be any real number.