2.7 Growth, exponential and otherwise

Many people who use the phrase “exponential growth” misuse it, somehow thinking it only means “very fast.” Exponential growth involves, well, exponents. Figure 2.4 is a plot showing four kinds of growth: exponential, quadratic, linear, and logarithmic. exponential$growth growth$exponential growth$quadratic growth$linear growth$logarithmic logarithm function$logarithm function$exponential function$quadratic

Figure 2.4: Four kinds of growth

I’ve drawn them so they all intersect at a point but afterward diverge. After the convergence, the logarithmic plot (dot-dashed) grows slowly, the linear plot (dashed) continues as it did, the quadratic plot (dotted) continues upward as a parabola, and the exponential one shoots up rapidly.

Look at the change in the vertical axis, the one I’ve labeled resources, versus the horizontal axis, labeled problem size...