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Mathematics LibreTexts

3.3: Solving Exponential Equations

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Because of the fact that logarithms are exponents, the rules for working with logarithms are similar to those that govern exponential expressions. One very helpful rule of equality for working with logarithms is related to the exponential rule for raising a power to a power. We recall one of the rules of exponents as:
(bx)y=bxy
in other words
(52)4=(52)(52)(52)(52)=524=58
In logarithmic notation, this rule works out as:
logbMp=plogbM
The reason for this comes from the rule for exponents. Let's say that logbM=x
Then:
logbM=x
this means that
bx=M
and
(bx)p=(M)p so bpx=Mp

Now, we come back to the question of logbMp=?. This expression (logbMp) is asking the question "What power do we raise b to in order to get an answer of
Mp? The result on the previous page shows that:
bpx=Mp
This means that we must raise b to the px power to get an answer of Mp. Remember that x=logbM. This means that:
bpx=Mp so logbMp=px=plogbM
This statement of equality is useful if we are trying to solve equations in which the variable is an exponent.
Example
Solve for x
4x=53
We start by taking a logarithm on both of the equation. Just as we can add to both sides of an equation, or multiply on both sides of an equation, or raise both sides of an equation to a power, we can also take the logarithm of both sides. So long as two quantities are equal, then their logarithms will also be equal.
4x=53log4x=log53xlog4=log53x=log53log42.864

since the log base 10 and log base e are both programmed into most calculators, these are the most commonly used bases for logarithms.
Example
Solve for x
52x+3=17
We start this problem in the same fashion, but this time we will use a logarithm to the base e:
52x+3=17ln52x+3=ln17(2x+3)ln5=ln17
There are several possibilities for finishing the problem from this point. We will focus on two of them that are the most useful for solving more complex problems. First, we will distribute the ln5 into the parentheses and then get the x by itself.

(2x+3)ln5=ln17x2ln5+3ln5=ln173ln5=3ln5x2ln5=ln173ln5x=ln173ln52ln50.620
And we can check the answer by plugging it back in:
52(0.0620)+351.76016.989717

We can also approximate the logarithms in the problem and solve for an approximate answer:
(2x+3)ln5=ln17x2ln5+3ln5=ln173.2189x+4.82832.83324.82834.82833.2189x1.9951x0.620
If you use the method of approximating, it's important to make a good approximation. At least 45 decimal places are necessary for an accurate answer.
Let's look at an example that has variables on both sides of the equation:

Example
Solve for x
43x=92x1
We'll use log base 10 in this problem.
43x=92x1log43x=log92x13xlog4=(2x1)log9x3log4=x2log9log9

If we collect like terms, we'll end up with:
x3log4=x2log9log9log9=x2log9x3log4
At this point, if we want to get the x by itself, we need to factor out the x on the right-hand side:
log9=x2log9x3log4log9=x(2log93log4)

Then divide on both sides by the coefficient in parentheses:
log92log93log4=x(2log93log4)2log93log4log92log93log4=x9.327x
Again, we can check our answer by plugging it back into the equation:
439.327427.9817.01841016
929.3271917.6547.01771016

We could also have solved this equation by approximating the logarithms in the beginning.
43x=92x1log43x=log92x13xlog4=(2x1)log93x(0.60206)(2x1)0.954241.80618x1.9085x0.954240.954240.10232x9.326x
This answer is less accurate than the other approximation (9.326036 vs. 9.327424) The accuracy of an answer depends upon the original approximations for the logarithms.

Solve for the indicated variable.
1) 2x=5
2) 2x=9
3) 3x=7
4) 3x=20
5) 2x+1=6
6) 7x+1=41
7) 5x+1=36
8) 8x2=6
9) 42x+3=50
10) 4x+2=5x
11) 52x+1=9
12) 6x+4=10x
13) 7y+1=3y
14) 2x+1=3x2
15) 6y+2=5y
16) 7x3=3x+1
17) 62x+1=5x+2
18) 91x=12x+1
19) 52x1=3x3
20) 3x2=42x+1
21) 83x2=9x+2
22) 22x3=5x1
23) 103x+2=5x+3
24) 53x=3x+4
25) 3x+4=213x
26) 42x+3=5x2
27) 323x=42x+1
28) 22x3=5x2


This page titled 3.3: Solving Exponential Equations is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Richard W. Beveridge.

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