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Exponentials and Logarithms

To get the picture of an inverse, you just take the mirror image over the line y = x.

basic graph of an exponentialthe graph of an inverse is just the mirror image over y = x

 

So, the standard graph for a logarithm with a base that's > 1 is

the basic shape of the graph f( x ) = -a^x ... the y-axis is a vertical symptote ... as x gets bigger, the graph climbs slowly

 

TRY IT: 

Draw a rough sketch of f( x ) = log( x ) and label
the tail behavior as x --> infinity and x --> 0 from the right .