The equation of a straight line

For any straight line: y = mx + c where: m = gradient = (yP yR) / (xR xQ) and c = y-intercept

The power law relationship

This has the general form:

y=kxn
where k and n are constants.
An example is the distance, s travelled after time, t when an object is undergoing acceleration, a. s = at 2 s = y; t = x; 2 = n; a = k

gradient = k xn

To prove this relationship:

Draw a graph of y against x n The graph should be a straight line through the origin and have a gradient equal to k

Common examples
power, n = 1: direct proportion relationship: y = k x prove by plotting y against x power, n = 2: square relationship: y = k x2 plot y against x2 power, n = 3: cube relationship: y = k x3 plot y against x3 power, n = : square root relationship: y = k x = k x plot y against x power, n = - 1: inverse proportion relationship: y = k x -1 = k / x plot y against 1 / x power, n = - 2: inverse square relationship: y = k x -2 = k / x2 plot y against 1 / x2 In all these cases the graphs should be straight lines through the origin having gradients equal to k.

Question
Quantity P is thought to be related to quantities Q, R and T by the following equation: P = 2 Q R 2 T3 What graphs should be plotted to confirm the relationships between P and the other quantities? State in each case the value of the gradient.

When n is unknown
EITHER - Trial and error Find out what graph yields a straight line. This could take a long time!
OR - Plot a log (y) against log (x) graph. Gradient = n y-intercept = log (k)

Logarithms
Consider:

10 = 10 1 5 = 10 0.699 2 = 10 0.301

100 = 10 2 50 = 10 1.699 20 = 10 1.301

1000 = 10 3 500 = 10 2.699 200 = 10 2.301

In all cases above the power of 10 is said to be the LOGARITHM of the left hand number to the BASE OF 10
For example: log10(100) = 2 log10(50) = 1.699 etc.. (on a calculator use the lg button)

Natural Logarithms
Logarithms can have any base number but in practice the only other number used is 2.718281, Napiers constant e.
Examples: loge(100) = 4.605 loge(50) = 3.912 etc.. (on a calculator use the ln button)

These are called natural logarithms

Multiplication with logarithms

log (A x B) = log (A) + log (B)

Example consider: 20 x 50 = 1000 this can be written in terms of powers of 10: 10 1.301 x 10 1.699 = 10 3 Note how the powers (the logs to the base 10) relate to each other: 1.301 + 1.699 = 3.000

Division with logarithms

log (A B) = log (A) - log (B)

Consider: 100 20 = 5 this can be written in terms of powers of 10: 10 2 10 1.301 = 10 0.699 Note how the powers relate to each other: 2 - 1.301 = 0.699

Powers with logarithms

log (An) = n log (A)

Consider: 2 3 = 2 x 2 x 2 this can be written in terms of logs to base 10: log10 (2 3) = log10 (2) + log10 (2) + log10 (2) log10 (2 3) = 3 x log10 (2)

Another logarithm relationship

log B(Bn) = n
Example: log10 (10 3) = log10 (1000) = 3 The most important example of this is:

ln (en) = n [ loge (en) = n ]

How log-log graphs work

The power relationship has the general form: y=kxn where k and n are constants. Taking logs on both sides: log (y) = log (k x n) log (y) = log (k) + log (x n) log (y) = log (k) + n log (x) which is the same as: log (y) = n log (x) + log (k)

log (y) = n log (x) + log (k) This has the form of the equation of a straight line: y = mx + c where: y = log (y) x = log (x) m = the gradient = the power n c = the y-intercept = log (k)

Question
Dependent variable P was measured for various values of independent variable Q. They are suspected to be related through a power law equation: P = k Q n where k and n are constants. Use the measurements below to plot a log-log graph and from this graph find the values of k and n.
Q P log 10 (Q) log 10 (P) 1.0 2.00 2.0 16.0 3.0 54.0 4.0 128 5.0 250 6.0 432

Exponential decay
This is how decay occurs in nature. Examples include radioactive decay and the loss of electric charge on a capacitor. The graph opposite shows how the mass of a radioactive isotope falls over time.

Exponential decay over time has the general form:

x = xo e - t
where: t is the time from some initial starting point x is the value of the decaying variable at time t xo is the initial value of x when t = 0 e is Napiers constant 2.718 is called the decay constant.
It is equal to the fraction of x that decays in a unit time. The higher this constant the faster the decay proceeds.

In the radioisotope example: t = the time in minutes. x = the mass in grams of the isotope remaining at this time xo = 100 grams (the starting mass) e = Napiers constant 2.718 = the decay constant is equal to the fraction of the isotope that decays over each unit time period (1 minute in this case). About 0.11 min-1 in this example.

Proving exponential decay graphically

x = xo e - t
To prove this plot a graph of ln (x) against t . If true the graph will be a straight line and have a negative gradient. Gradient = - y-intercept = ln (xo)

NOTE: ONLY LOGARITMS TO THE BASE e CAN BE USED.

How ln-t graphs work

Exponential decay has the general form: x = xo e - t Taking logs TO THE BASE e on both sides: ln (x) = ln (xo e - t) ln (x) = ln (xo ) + ln (e - t) ln (x) = ln (xo ) - t which is the same as: ln (x) = - t + ln (xo )

ln (x) = - t + ln (xo ) This has the form of the equation of a straight line: y = mx + c with: y = ln (x) x=t m, the gradient = the negative of the decay constant =- c, the y-intercept = ln (xo )

Question
The marks M of a student are suspected to decay exponentially with time t. They are suspected to be related through the equation: M = Mo e k t. Use the data below to plot a graph of ln(M) against t and so verify the above statement. Also determine the students initial mark Mo (t = 0 weeks) and the decay constant k, of the marks. t / weeks M ln (M) 1 72 2 59 3 48 4 40 5 32 6 27