Survey of Calculus – Section 4.1 – Exponential Functions
You did much more with exponential functions in algebra than we will do here. Of course, you already know
what an exponential function is and how to graph it. We are primarily interested in how to apply it.
First, just practice approximating the following value in your calculator: e 0.0389  _____________________.
Most of the problems in this section will use the compound interest formulas that you have already seen.
Compound Interest
r

A  P 1  
 m
mt
where
A = accumulated amount,
P = principal,
Interest Compounded Continuously
A  Pe rt
#14
#20
r = interest rate,
t = time
m = number of interest periods per unit of time