Exponential Decay
What It Does
Generates a sequence of values that decrease according to the exponential decay formula P*e^(-kx). This creates a curve that starts at an initial value and rapidly decreases at first, then tapers off gradually.
Inputs
| Name | Description | Type | Required |
|---|---|---|---|
| initialValue | The starting value (P) | Number | No |
| length | Number of values to generate | Number | No |
| decayRate | The rate of decay (k) | Number | No |
| precision | Number of decimal places to round to | Number | No |
Outputs
| Name | Description | Type |
|---|---|---|
| values | The sequence of decreasing values | List |
How to Use It
- Drag the Exponential Decay node into your graph.
- Set the "initialValue" (default is 100).
- Set the "length" to specify how many values you want (default is 5).
- Set the "decayRate" to control how quickly values decrease (default is 0.5).
- Run the graph—with the default settings, your output will be [100, 60.65, 36.79, 22.31, 13.53].
Tips
- Higher decay rates cause values to decrease more rapidly.
- The decay is most dramatic at the beginning and gradually levels off.
- The values will never reach zero, but will get increasingly close as the sequence continues.
See Also
- Geometric Series: For a similar sequence where each term is a constant multiple of the previous.
- Arithmetic Series: For sequences that decrease by a constant value.
- Power Series: For sequences based on powers of a number.
Use Cases
- Animation Easing: Create natural-looking deceleration effects.
- Fade Out Effects: Generate opacity or volume values that gradually fade away.
- Diminishing Returns: Model scenarios where additional inputs yield increasingly smaller outputs.
- Physical Systems: Simulate natural decay processes like radioactive half-life or cooling.