SOLVING EXPONENTIAL EQUATIONS
SOLVING EXPONENTIAL EQUATIONS 
Note:
If you would like an in-depth review of exponents, the rules of exponents, exponential functions and exponential equations, click on exponential function.
under Algebra.
Solve for x in the following equation.
Example 1:
Isolate the exponential term.
Divide both sides of the equation by 4
Take the natural logarithm of both sides of the equation 
The exact answer is 
( which can also be
written 
) and the approximate answer is 
When solving the above problem, you could have used any logarithm. For
example, let's solve it using the logarithmic with base 5.
Check this answer in the original equation.
Check the solution 
(can also be written in the equivalent form 
)
by substituting 0.111571775657 in the original equation for x. If the left
side of the equation equals the right side of the equation after the
substitution, you have found the correct answer.
You can also check your answer by graphing 
(formed by subtracting the right side of the original equation from the left
side). Look to see where the graph crosses the x-axis; that will be the real
solution. Note that the graph crosses the x-axis at 0.111571775657. This
means that 0.111571775657 is the real solution.
If you would like to work another example, click on Example
If you would like to test yourself by working some problems similar to this
example, click on Problem
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