PROJECT INSTRUCTIONS
The main goal for this project is for you to understand on your own the applications of some of the material learned in class.
More specifically, how exponential functions and logarithms show up in many real-life applications. There are two sections in the book
that focus on this:
- Section 5.7: Compound interest. This section focuses on how you can calculate interest and the future value of an invested amount of
money, how to calculate rates of return and present value, and how to determine the rate of interest or time needed to double
a sum of money.
- Section 5.8: Exponential Growth and Decay Models; Newton's Law; Logistic Growth nd Decay Models This section has
the following learning objectives: to find equations of populations that obey the law of uninhibited growth or the law of decay,
use Newton;s Law of Cooling, and use logistic models. There are applications of these ideas to biology, chemistry, anthropology,
and many other sciences.
I want you to pick one of these two sections, read it carefully, and pick two problems in the "Applications and Extensions" section
of problems. You will write a paper explaining why this particular section interested you, summarizing the ideas you will be using from the section,
and you will write out clear solutions to the two problems you picked. You should also explain why you picked those problems (that is,
explain why they were itneresting to you).
The projects are individual, you can talk about the sections with your friends but make your project your own.
Needless to say, make it neat and clear, presentation will also be counted in the overall grading of the paper.
This doesn't have to have any specific format, length or style, I want you to make it as personal as possible. You can also get as creative as you want. The main point of this exercise is for you to learn something valuable about what you study and its connection to math. I just want you to put forth an honest effort and to gain something from this experience.
The project will be worth an extra 2% of your final grade.