Algebra 2 exponential growth and decay worksheet
A quantity that grows by the same percent each period is exponential: y = a(1 + r)^x with a the starting amount and r the rate. Decay is the same with 1 - r. The base tells you which: bigger than 1 grows, between 0 and 1 decays, and the distance from 1 is the rate.
Select your difficulty
Pick more than one for a sheet that mixes them.
The preview can look cramped on a phone. The PDF and printed sheet come out normal.
Free math worksheets at sigmaprep.io/worksheets© 2026 Sigma Prep
Sigma Prep · sigmaprep.io/worksheets Name Exponential Growth and DecayDate Period Answer each question.
Free math worksheets at sigmaprep.io/worksheets© 2026 Sigma Prep |
Sigma Prep · sigmaprep.io/worksheets Name Exponential Growth and DecayAnswer keyVersion 1Date Period Answer each question.
Free math worksheets at sigmaprep.io/worksheets© 2026 Sigma Prep |
How to do these
- The base is 0.92, which is less than 1, so it decays.
- 1 - 0.92 is 0.08, which is 8 percent.
The answer is Decay, .
Where students go wrong
Reading 0.92 as a 92 percent rate. The rate is how far the base sits from 1, not the base itself.
Also called exponential functions, growth and decay, percent growth or exponential decay.
What you can put on this worksheet
- Growth or decay, and the rate
- → Decay,
- Write the function from a rate
- A town of people shrinks by each year. Write after years →
- The amount after some time
- A forest of trees shrinks by each year. About how many after years? Round to the nearest whole number →
- The y-intercept and the asymptote
- Find the -intercept and the asymptote of → ,
- Write y = ab^x from two points or a graph
- Write the equation of the graph →
- Graph an exponential function
- Graph → Through and ; asymptote
- The years given as dates
- Sales were units in 2015, and the number grows by each year. Estimate the number of units in 2017, to the nearest whole number. →
- A fraction in front, a fraction base, a negative power
- Given , find →
- Graph with a fraction in front
- Graph → Through and ; asymptote
- The equation of a decay graph
- Write the equation of the graph →
- What the y-intercept means
- If is the value of a house, in thousands of dollars, years after 1900, a model is . What does the -intercept mean? → In 1900 the house was worth about 58.4 thousand dollars.
- A table of values, plotted
- A savings account starts at dollars and grows by each year. Make a table for years 0 to 4, to the nearest whole number, and plot the points. →