the number "e" is important to every exponential function. for example, a bank pays interest of 0.01 percent every day. one person takes his interest money and puts it in a box. after 10,000 days (about 30 years), he has 2 times as much money as he started with. another person takes his interest money and puts it back into the bank. because the bank now pays him interest on his interest, the amount of money is an exponential function.