General Mathematics

Quarter 1 – Module 28:

Solving Real-Life Problems
Involving Logarithmic Functions,
Equations and Inequalities

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 What I Need to Know

Previously, you learned how to simplify and solve logarithmic functions, equations, and
inequalities. Also, you already have the background of the properties, techniques, and
steps in solving problems using logarithmic functions. You are now aware of the use of
the Richter Scale to find the magnitude of an earthquake, determining for the acidity
and pH level of a solution concentration, computing the population, and solving
compound interest.
Can you still remember the formulas to solve those real-life applications of logarithmic
functions? It is not enough that you know the formulas, what matters most is you know
how to apply it in real-life situations. In this module, you will gain a deeper
understanding of the application of a logarithmic function, equation, and inequalities to
real-life situations.

You will realize that aside from the mentioned real-life problem above there are still other
real-life situations that you could use logarithm like computing for the decay rate, how
bacteria and viruses multiply, how to get the age of a decomposed bone by knowing the
carbon-14 content. You might also find it interesting to solve for your future savings
account or how you could possibly get a higher amount if you will save earlier.

And now, are you ready for the new lesson? Fasten your seatbelt and focus on the world
of solving numerous ways of using logarithm is a real-life situation.

After going through this module, you are expected to:

1. recall how to solve logarithmic equations and inequalities; and
2. solve problems involving logarithmic functions, equations, and inequalities.

What I Know

Let’s find out how far you might already know about this topic! Please take this
challenge! Have Fun!

Choose the letter of the best answer. Write the chosen letter on a separate sheet of paper.

1. Which of the following situations show the application of the logarithmic function to
the real-life situation?
a. Getting the number of teachers in one division
b. Looking for the missing value of a variable
c. Computing the age of Maria given her sibling true age
d. Getting the pH level of water from an unknown water tunnel

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2. The following situation shows the application of the logarithmic functions to real-
life situation EXCEPT:
a. Determining time your money may double in amount
b. Measuring the size of human statistics
c. Determining the vital statistics of a person
d. Getting the total number of population in one particular region in a certain
time frame
3. An earthquake is measured with a wave amplitude of 1012 times. What is the
magnitude of this earthquake using the Richter scale to the nearest tenth?
𝐸
(Hint: 𝑅 =𝑙𝑜𝑔 10 )
4.40

a. 5.07 c. 7.57
b. 6.07 d. 7.87
4. A particular running experiment is initially 100 bacteria cells. She expects that the
𝑡

number of cells is given by the function 𝑐(𝑡) = 100(2)15 , where time t is the number
of hours since the experiment started. After how many hours would the scientist
expect to have 300 bacteria cells? Give your answer to the nearest hour.
a. 2 hours c. 104 hours
b. 24 hours d. 1, 048 hours
5. Which of the following logarithmic inequalities is correct? Round off your answer to
2 decimal places.
a. log(x-1) + log(x+1) < 2logx if x = 2
b. log(x-1) + log(x+1) < 2logx if x = 100
c. log(x+1) > 2log(x) if x = 2
d. log(x+5) > 5log(-x) if x = -2
6. Simplify 𝑙𝑜𝑔5𝑥 ≥ 3.
a. x ≥ 125 c. x ≥ 15
b. x ≥ 85 d. x ≥ 225
7. The formula in the risk of having an increasing car accident as the concentration of
alcohol in blood increases is A = 6e12.75x where x is the blood alcohol concentration
and A is the given percentage of car accident risk. What blood alcohol concentration
corresponds to a 50% risk of a car accident?
a. 0.20 c. 0.17
b. 0.25 d. 0.19
8. Evaluate the logarithmic form log 68.
a. 1.16 c. 2.16
b. 2.25 d. 1.25
9. Determine the depreciated value of a teacher’s table that has discounted 50% of its
original value of ₱5000.00 using a decay factor.
a. ₱5000.00 c. ₱3000.00
b. ₱2500.00 d. ₱4500.00
10. Find the inverse of 𝑓(𝑥) = 𝑏𝑥.
a. f-1(x) = logxb c. f(x) = logbx
b. f (x) = logbx
-1
d. f-1(b) = logbx

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11. The magnitude of an earthquake in Matanao, Davao Del Sur on December 15, 2019,
is 6.8. And it is predicted that there will be another earthquake that will strike
somewhere in the Philippines that is 4 times stronger than the mentioned
earthquake. What could be the possible magnitude of the predicted earthquake?
𝐸
(Earthquake Magnitude on a Richter scale 𝑅 = 𝑙𝑜𝑔 10 )
4.40

a. 7 c. 8.40
b. 8 d. 7.20
12. Suppose that you are observing the behavior of bacteria duplication in a laboratory.
You observe that the bacteria triple every hour. Write an equation with base 3 to
determine the population of bacteria after one day.
a. 3.02 x 1011 c. 2.90 x 1011
b. 3.20 x 1011 d. 2.82 x 1011
13. Using item number 12, determine how long it would take the population of bacteria
to reach 300,000 bacteria.
a. 11.48 days c. 12.5 days
b. 13 days d. 14 days
For item numbers 14-15, refer to the following:
A Senior High School student plans to invest in a bank since he knew that his family
struggles financially. He thought that if he will not prepare for the future it will be hard
for him to continue to study at the university. This decision is very wise for a student
like him. It suggests that even as early as Grade 7 students should have the urge and
initiative to save for the future. His initial amount for his savings is ₱5,500.00. Help him
to decide to save his money with the formula A = P(1 + r) n and by answering the
questions that follow:
14. A bank offers 12% compounded annually, predict the balance after 5 years.
a. ₱9,500.00 c. ₱9,692.88
b. ₱10,692.88 d. ₱10,500.00
15. If he would like to have ₱20,000 in the future how long will it take him to save with
the same amount of initial investment and the same interest rate?
a. 8 years c. 12 years
b. 10 years d. 13 years

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 Lesson Solving Problems involving
1 Logarithmic Functions,
Equations and Inequalities
Learning new things like discovering the importance of learning logarithm and its
significance in real-life situations is fun. You will notice that some of the problems here
are somewhat the same with the problems you already solved involving exponential
function. Yes! You already know about solving some problems here, but this time you
will solve them using logarithmic functions, equations, and inequalities.

What’s In

As the saying goes, “A person who does not remember where he came
from will never reach his destination”. Because of that here are some exercises to
refresh your mind.
Activity 1
Determine whether each of the given below is a logarithmic function, a logarithmic
equation, a logarithmic inequality, or neither of the three. Enjoy working while recalling
your previous lessons regarding logarithm. Have fun!
1. g(x) = 2logx
2. y = log4(2x-1)
3. xlog8(2x) = -log(3x-5)
4. log(4x - 1) > 0
5. g(x) = 2x-7
How did you distinguish logarithmic functions, logarithmic equations and logarithmic
inequalities from each other?

Activity 2

Pick, Pair and Solve

Complete the table below by selecting your answer inside the box and putting them in
the column where they belong. In the columns, logarithmic equations and logarithmic
inequalities, make sure you will pick and pair it with the correct solutions. Have fun!

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 Logarithmic Solutions to Logarithmic Logarithmic Solutions to
Equations Logarithmic Functions Inequalities Logarithmic
Equations Inequalities

What’s New
Why oh Why?

In a far-flung area somewhere in Quezon Province, the school principal observed that
the number of graduating students decreases every year. In the year 2018, the
number of graduating students is 200, but in the year 2020, it becomes 150 only. Use
the formula 𝐴 = 𝑃𝑒𝑟𝑡 and the information given to answer the following questions:

Questions:
1. What is the decay rate of the number of graduating students?
2. Using the decay rate that you get in item 1, about how many years will there
are less than 100 graduating students?
3. Do you think the way of living in a remote area affects the decreasing
population of learners per year?
4. What could be the other reasons for the decreasing population of graduating
learners per year?
5. Were you able to solve the problem with the given formula? Justify your
answer.

What is It

You have noticed that you were given a formula on the problem above under What’s
New to solve for the decay rate. Sometimes, this formula is also used for problems
involving exponential growth. Let us now try to solve the problem above. Using the
formula 𝐴 = 𝑃𝑒𝑟𝑡 we can substitute the given value for the first question which is you
were asked to look for the decay rate.
Given: A = 150 P = 200 t = 2 years r = ?
Using substitution in the formula 𝐴 = 𝑃𝑒𝑟𝑡, we have 150
= 200𝑒𝑟(2)

To simplify: divide both sides by 200 that becomes 0.75

= 𝑒𝑟(2)

ln 0.75 = 2r ln e

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from this equation divide both sides by 2 that makes the equation
0.1438 = r ln e
Since ln e is equal to one then the final answer is r = 0.1438 or 14.38% decay rate. To
answer question number 2, do it with the same process but this time look for the time
instead of rate and use the 0.1438 for the value of r. This will become inequality since
we are looking for the time that a population decayed to less than 100 graduating
students. Thus, 100 < 200e0.1438t

Using the same process this will give us the answer 4.82 years < t or t > 4.82 years.
Therefore, if the number of graduating students will be continued to decrease following
the decay rate of 14.38%, intuitively, in five years there will be less than 100 graduating
students. This information will provide the school administration and teachers to look
for a solution regarding the declining number of graduating students. This is the role of
mathematics to real-life problems, it gives us the information we need to make wise
decisions.
Word problems involving logarithmic functions, equations, and inequalities generally
involve solving and evaluating exponential form. Exponential and logarithm cannot be
separated from each other. If the given problem is in logarithmic form, it is necessary to
transform them to exponential and solve for the unknown value which will satisfy the
original equation or function.
This is just one of the applications of logarithmic inequality, function, and equation.
Aside from this, you will be given other examples of the logarithm that will be applied in
real life.
Example 1

COVID-19 pandemic according to news is spreading rapidly, transferring from human

to human. It is a kind of virus that affects the human respiratory system and it is
commonly associated with cough, pneumonia, SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory
Syndrome), and other respiratory-related infections.

Let us assume that the virus has an initial population of 10,000 and grows to 25,000
after 50 minutes. Assume that its growth follows an exponential model f(t) = Ae kt
representing the number of viruses after t minutes. The e is used in the model because
the virus continuously grows over time.

a. Find A and k.

b. Use the model to determine the number of viruses after 6 hours.

Solution:

(a) Given: f(0) = 10,000

f(50) = 25,000 Thus, f(0) =
Aek(0)
A = 10,000
F(50) = 25,000ek(50)
= 25,000
e50k = 5/2 ln
e50k = ln 5/2

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 Take the ln of both sides
50k = ln5/2
= 0.01832
Therefore, A = 10,000 and k=0.01832.
Also, the exponential model is f(t) = 10,000e0.01832t
(b) 6 hours = 360 minutes;
f(360) = 10,000e.01832(360)
= 7,315,752
Therefore, the number of viruses after 6 hours is 7,315,752.
Example 2
Under certain circumstances, a virus spreads according to the equation
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p(𝑡) = 1 +15𝑒−0.3𝑡 where p(t) is the proportion of the population of the virus spread
at time t days. How long will it take the virus to spread at 75% of the population?
Solution:
1

0.75 = 1 +15𝑒−0.3𝑡
0.75 + 11.25e-0.3t = 1
11.25e-0.3t = 0.25
e-0.3t = 0.25/11.25 -0.3t
ln e = ln 0.25/11.25
t = 12.69
Therefore, it will take approximately 13 days for the virus to spread to 75% of the
population.

Example 3

When an organism dies, the amount of carbon-14 in its system starts to decrease. The
Carbon-14 is about 7,200 years. An archaeologist found a bone in Mountain Province
of Cordillera Region that contains ¼ of the carbon-14 it originally had, how long ago did
the human die? Solution: 1 𝑡/7,200 where y is the amount of carbon-
The mathematical model of the situation is 𝑦 = ( )
2
14 in the organism after t years and y0 initial amount of carbon-14.
Since the bone is only ¼ of the carbon-14 it originally had, we have
¼ yo = yo (1/2)t/7,200
Taking the ln of both sides, ln¼ = (t/7,200) ln(1/2)
ln¼ ÷ ln½ = t/7,200 t = 14,400
Therefore, the human died 14,400 years ago and this must be a big contribution to our
history.

Example 4
Mr. Boy a fisherman from Mulanay Quezon Province initially invested ₱500,000.00 in
a local cooperative and wanted a double amount form its initial investment. Using the
formula from the previous lesson on exponential function A = P(1+r) n where: A is the
future value; P is the present value; r is the interest rate and n is the number of years,
how many years will it take an investment to triple if the annual interest rate is 6%?

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Solution:

Triple of the initial investment means that three (3) times ₱500,000.00 which is equal to
₱1,500,000.00
Given: A = ₱1,500,000.00, P = ₱500,000.00, r = 6% or .06, n = ?
A = P(1+r)n
₱1,500,000.00 = ₱500,000.00(1+.06)n
3 = (1.06)n
log3 = log(1.06)n
log3 = nlog(1.06)
𝑙𝑜𝑔3
n= 𝑙𝑜𝑔1.06

n = 18.85 years therefore the money will triple

approximately after 19 years.

What’s More
Read each problem carefully and answer each question to solve the
problem. Have Fun!
Activity 1.1

One of the remote areas in Manila which happens to be the capital of the
Philippines has recorded an increasing case of diarrhea. It is found out that
a certain bacteria has been discovered which causes this disease.
This culture starts at 5,000 bacteria, and doubles every 100 minutes.
How long will it take a number of bacteria to reach 20,000.

1. What could be the mathematical model for this situation? _____________

2. Identify the given. _____________________________
3. Substitute the given to the mathematical model ____________
4. How long will it take the number of bacteria to reach 20,000?
Activity 1.2
1. Using the world population formula P = 6.9(1.011)t, where t is the number
of years after 2010 and P is the world population in billions of people,
estimate:
a) the population in the year 2030 to the nearest hundred million, and
b) by what year will the population be double from 2010?
2. An earthquake during October 2019 at Tulunan Cotabato was recorded to
have a magnitude of 6.3. Another earthquake somewhere in Davao was
recorded to have a 7.1 magnitude in December 2018. How much more energy
was released by the 2018 earthquake compared to that of 2019 recorded
earthquake? You can refer to the discussion in the introduction to logarithm
for computation.
3. How much money should be invested at 5% compounded annually for 30
years so that you have ₱25,000.00 at the end of 30 years? Round your
answer to the nearest two decimal places.

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 What I Have Learned
A. Please read the sentences carefully and fill in the missing word/s
by writing your answer on the line/s provided.

1. Logarithmic equation is a ______________________________________________.

2. Logarithmic inequality is a _____________________________________________.
3. Logarithmic function is a _______________________________________________.
4. Logarithmic function is the ____________________ of exponential function.

B. Give at least three examples of real-life situations which can be modelled by a

logarithmic functions, equations or inequalities.

What I Can Do
Read and analyze the situation below then answer the question given.
Exponential function cannot be separated in solving problems involving logarithmic
function. Most of the time, professionals like chemists, engineers, and scientists
encounter problems that require the application of exponential and logarithmic
functions.
Chemists define the acidity or alkalinity of a substance according to the formula "pH =
–log[H+]" where [H+] is the hydrogen ion concentration, measured in moles per liter.
Solutions with a pH value of less than 7 are considered acidic while solutions with a
pH value of greater than 7 are basic. On the other hand, solutions with a pH of 7 (such
as pure water) are neutral. Suppose that you test apple juice and find that the
hydrogen ion concentration is [H+] = 0.0003. Find the pH value and determine
whether the juice is basic or acidic.
Here are the steps to solve the problem and the rubric that will guide you in giving the
correct solution to the problem.
Steps in Problem Solving Possible Highest Your Score
Points
1. Give the Appropriate model or equation to
2 points
find the pH Level.
2. Identify the given 2 points
3. Substitute the given and show the solution 3 points
4. Give the final answer 3 points
Total 10 points

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 Assessment

Multiple Choice. Choose the letter of the best answer. Write the chosen
letter on a separate sheet of paper.
1. Which of the following situations show the application of the logarithmic function?
a. Determining the level of acid in a solution
b. Determining time your money may double in amount
c. Measuring the size of human statistics
d. Getting the ion component of a chemical
2. Compute for the value of x in a given logarithmic inequalities
log2(x+1) > log4(x2).
a. x > ½ c. x > ½ x ≠ 0
b. x > ¾ d. x > ¾ x ≠ 1
3. An earthquake is measured with wave amplitude of 1015 times. What is the
magnitude of this earthquake using the Richter scale R = 2/3 log (E/104.40) to the
nearest tenth?
a. 6.07 c. 7.57
b. 7.07 d. 8.00
4. A particular bacterial colony doubles its population every 15 hours. A scientist
running an experiment is starting with 100 bacteria cells. She expects the number
of
𝑡

cells to be given by the function 𝑐(𝑡) = 100(2)15 , where t is the number of hours since
the experiment started. After how many hours would the scientist expect to have 500
bacteria cells? Give your answer to the nearest hour.
a. 5 hours c. 25 hours
b. 15 hours d. 35 hours

5. If log 0.3 (x-1) < log 0.09 (x-1), then x lies in the interval __________.
a. 2 < x < ∞ c. – 2 < x < -1
b. – ∞ < x < 2 d. 1 < x < 2
6. What is the depreciated value of a smartphone discounted 35% of its original price
of ₱36,000.00?
a. ₱23,400.00 c. ₱12,000.00
b. ₱12,600.00 d. ₱23,000.00
7. Solve the logarithmic inequality log2x ≤ 4.
a. 0 ≥ x ≤16 c. x ≤16
b. 0 ≤ x ≤ 8 d. 0 ≤ x ≤16
8. The formula in the risk of having an increasing car accident as the concentration of
alcohol in blood increases is A = 6e12.75x where x is the blood alcohol concentration
and A is the given percentage of car accident risk. What blood alcohol concentration
corresponds to a 75% risk of a car accident?
a. 0.20 c. 0.17
b. 0.25 d. 0.19

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9. You observed that the behavior of bacteria laboratory tripled every minute. Write an
equation with base 3 to determine the population of bacteria after one hour.
a. 3.23 x 1028 c. 2.23 x 1028
b. 4.23 x 1028 d. 1.23 x 1028
10. Using item number 9, determine how long it would take the population of bacteria
to reach 1,000,000 bacteria.
a. 12 days c. 13.58 days
b. 12.58 days d. 14.68 days
11. Find the value of x in the equation log 4(2x – 1) = 2
a. 8.5 c. 9.5
b. 8 d. 9
12. The magnitude of an earthquake in San Luis Aurora Province in May 2020 is 5.4.
And it is predicted that there will be another earthquake that will strike somewhere
in the Philippines that is 5 times stronger than the mentioned earthquake. What
could be the possible magnitude of the predicted earthquake? (Use Earthquake
𝐸
Magnitude on a Ritcher scale 𝑅 = 𝑙𝑜𝑔 10 4.40 )

a. 7 c. 6.13
b. 8 d. 7.10
For item numbers 13-15, refer to the following:

Mr. Juan Bayan thought of investing or saving some of his money after all the leisures
that he enjoyed. He believes in the saying “early comer is better than hard worker”. With
₱10,000.00 remaining cash on hand he plans to save it in a bank, but he is still in doubt
where to invest the money. Using the formula 𝐴 = 𝑃(1 + 𝑟)𝑛 help him to solve his
problem by answering the questions that follow.

13. A bank offers him a time deposit of 36% compounded annually, how much will his
money be after 10 years?
a. ₱216,000.00 c. ₱116,465.70
b. ₱116,000.00 d. ₱216,465.70
14. If he would like to have ₱500,000 in the future, how long will it take him to save
with the same amount of initial investment and the same interest rate?
a. 19 years c. 25 years
b. 20 years d. 30 years
15. He’s been thinking that if only he save at an early age he could have gotten a lot
bigger. Based on question no. 14 if he starts to invest at the age of 24 how old is he
to get the ₱500,000.00?
a. 44 years old c. 52 years old
b. 32 years old d. 60 years old

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 Additional Activities

Solve the following:

1. You find a skull in a nearby tribe ancient burial site and with the help of a
spectrometer, you discovered that the skull contains 9% of the C-14 found in a
modern skull. Assuming that the half-life of C-14 (radiocarbon) is 5,730 years, how
old is the skull?

2. Suppose that the population of a colony of bacteria increases exponentially. At the

start of an experiment, there are 10,000 bacteria, and one hour later, the population
has increased to 10,500. How long will it take for the population to reach 25,000?
Round off your answer to the nearest hour.

Answer Key

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 For inquiries or feedback, please write or call:

Department of Education - Bureau of Learning Resources (DepEd-BLR)

Ground Floor, Bonifacio Bldg., DepEd Complex Meralco

Avenue, Pasig City, Philippines 1600

Telefax: (632) 8634-1072; 8634-1054; 8631-4985

Email Address: blr.lrqad@deped.gov.ph *

blr.lrpd@deped.gov.ph

References
Oronce, Orlando.General Mathematics.Sampaloc Manila, Philippines. Rex
Bookstore, Inc. 2016.

Faylogna, Frelie T., Calamiong, Lanilyn L., Reyes, Rowena C. General

Mathematics. Sta. Ana Manila: Vicarish Publications and Trading, Inc.
2017. pp. 102-106

General Mathematics Learner’s Material. First Edition. 2016. pp. 77- 81

*DepED Material: General Mathematics Learner’s Material