What if you created a function where the exponent is a variable? As you might expect, this would be called an exponential function. When you hear someone talk about “growing exponentially,” they are talking about an exponential function. Exponential functions have some very interesting patterns.
Category: Functions
Motion Problems
George is in New York and Martha is in Washington. They leave at the same time and follow the same road to meet each other on the way. The distance between New York and Washington is 229 miles. George has a fast horse and averages 16 miles/hr. Martha has a slow carriage and averages 7 miles/hr. How far will George have gone when they meet?
Absolute Value Polynomials
What would you guess the absolute value of a polynomial function would look like? Try some here. I think you will be very surprised. Can you explain what you see?
Absolute Value Functions
The absolute value (ABS) function is the positive value of a number or quantity. Its graph has a very peculiar shape, a V. Since absolute values are always positive we can think of them as distances on a numberline.
Moore’s Law
It was one of the most amazing visions of the future ever made. In 1965 Gordon Moore, one of the founders of Intel, proposed a law governing the future of computing. He originally proposed that the number of components on a chip would double every year. Later he revised that law to doubling every two years. You can take a look at the real data of CPU development over the past 40 years and see if it in fact has followed Moore’s law and whether it can continue. In the process you will be looking at very large numbers and the effects of exponential growth on something we now live with all the time.