THE NATURAL EXPONENTIAL AND
LOGARITHM WITH APPLICATIONS
Exponential and logarithmic
equations and functions can be used in any base, such as, 
,
with “a” = 3, 4 in these expressions.
There is, however, one value of the base for these expressions which is
especially significant. It is found and
used in a wide variety of real-world situations and it appears in so many areas
of mathematics as the natural consequence of normal mathematical investigation
and research. This base is denoted by the small case letter “e” and is called the “Natural Base”. When this base is used
in exponential or logarithmic expressions, they are called the “Natural Exponential” and “Natural Logarithmic” expressions. Because
the base “e” is such a fundamental
value, we will use the first part of this unit to find a numerical
approximation of its value and manipulate a few equations that involve this
number. For the remainder of the unit, and in the assignment, we will explore a
range of real-world applications that involve this number.
