Exercise 51 Page 450

We want to determine whether the given function represents exponential growth or exponential decay. Let's recall the general form of an exponential function. y= a b^x

Growth or Decay?

The value of b tells us whether the function is growth or decay.

• If b>1, the function represents exponential growth.
• If 0

Let's consider the given function. y= 3 ( 5 )^x We can see that b= 5. Since b>1, the function represents exponential growth.

Determining the y-intercept

The y-intercept of an exponential function is a. Looking back at the given function, we can see that a= 3. Therefore, the y-intercept is 3.