MTH 252

Section 5.3
Exercise 74
Justin Drawbert
July 14, 2010

In James Stewart’s Calculus: Concepts and Contexts, 4th Edition, Section 5.3, Exercise 74, we
are given two graphs of ex for which we are told the area in labeled B is 3 times greater than the
area labeled A. We are then asked to express b in terms of a.
a b
e e
x x
e e
y

B
A

0 a 0 b
x x

This can be expressed mathematically as

Z b Z a
ex = 3 · ex
0 0
We then recall (from page 356)
Evaluation Theorem: If f is continuous on the interval [a, b] , then
Z b
f (x)dx = F (b) − F (a)
a
Where F is any antiderivative of f , that is F ′ = f
By this we have
Z b Z a b a
x
e =3· ex ⇒ ex  = 3 · ex 
 
0 0 0 0

⇒ eb − e0 = 3 · ea − 3 · e0
⇒ eb − 1 = 3 · ea − 3
⇒ eb = 3 · ea − 2
⇒ ln(eb ) = ln(3 · ea − 2)
⇒ b = ln(3 · ea − 2)