Chapter 3: Applications of derivatives
Exponential growth and decay
When a quantity changes at a rate proportional to itself, it is an exponential, and the constant in the exponent is found from one measurement. That single idea covers radioactive decay, population growth, compound interest and Newton’s law of cooling, where the quantity that decays is the temperature difference rather than the temperature itself.
Practice questions
Every question below is original material written for Longhand. Open a solution to read the full working, or answer it yourself to have it counted towards your progress.
- Introductory1 mark · 2 min
Which of the following functions satisfies the differential equation ?
Answer this question yourself - Introductory2 marks · 3 min
A quantity satisfies for all , and . Find .
Answer this question yourself - Introductory2 marks · 3 min
A bacterial culture has population million after hours. How long does it take the population to double?
Answer this question yourself - Standard3 marks · 5 min
A radioactive isotope decays so that 30 % of any sample is gone after 10 days. How long does it take for a 200 g sample to decay to 50 g?
Answer this question yourself - Standard2 marks · 4 min
A yeast culture grows at a rate proportional to its size, and increases by 50 % every 4 hours. What is its doubling time?
Answer this question yourself - Standard3 marks · 5 min
A mug of tea at 90 °C is left in a room held at 20 °C. After 5 minutes it has cooled to 60 °C. Assuming Newton's law of cooling, when will the tea reach 30 °C?
Answer this question yourself - Standard2 marks · 3 min
An object's temperature is degrees Celsius after minutes. Which differential equation does satisfy, and what is the room temperature?
Answer this question yourself - Challenging4 marks · 7 min
A kettle of water at 100 °C is left to cool in a room of unknown constant temperature. After 10 minutes the water is at 80 °C, and after 20 minutes it is at 65 °C. Assuming Newton's law of cooling, find the room temperature.
Answer this question yourself - Challenging4 marks · 7 min
A savings account pays 4 % per year, compounded continuously, and its owner deposits money continuously at \$3000 per year. The balance therefore satisfies . If the account opens with \$20 000, what is the balance after 10 years?
Answer this question yourself - Capstone5 marks · 9 min
A retiree has \$100 000 in an account paying 5 % per year, compounded continuously, and withdraws money continuously at \$6000 per year, so the balance satisfies . Solve for , and find how many years it takes for the money to run out.
Answer this question yourself
Related topics
Exponential and trigonometric functions
Derivatives of eˣ, aˣ, sine, cosine and tangent, and the limits behind them.
10 questions
The chain rule and logarithms
Compositions, nested rules, the natural logarithm and logarithmic differentiation.
10 questions