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Calculus | Packer Collegiate Institute

Drawing Integrals

PART I: Where is your intuition?

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Part II: Playing around
Directions: Go to http://phet.colorado.edu/simulations/sims.php?sim=Calculus_Grapher
and click “run now!” Unclick the box marked “derivative” and then play around with the
settings. Once you have a feel for the applet, reproduce the functions. Then when you
have a good approximation, click the box marked “integral.” Draw what you see below.

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Part III: Observations

Play around with the simulation. Write down FOUR observations you can come up with,
no matter how obvious – and try to explain them.

Example:

Observation: I observe that if my function stays at or below the x-axis, the integral of
that function will also stay at or below the x-axis.
Possible Explanation: Since the integral represents the signed area, if a function is
always below the x-axis, then the signed area will always be negative. Hence the integral
will always be below the x-axis.