The Process of Integration in Calculus

An Essay By Samantha R. Selman April 19, 2012

Before we begin the study of integration, let us first review the process of Differentiation. Please note, the concepts of differentiation and integration form the two main branches of calculus. Differentiation is a process that takes a formula for a function and derives a formula for another function. The formula derived from the process is called a derivative. The process of differentiation allows us to find the slope of a tangent line, and a derivative can represent an instantaneous rate of change. Differentiation could be described mathematically as follows: For a function y=f(x) the derivative of x is: f (x) = lim f(x + h) - f(x) h0 h if a limit exists. There are three steps in calculating a derivative. First, you must write down the difference quotient [f(x+h) = f(x)]/h. Replace the variables with your given values and simplify the difference quotient. Finally, find the limit as h approaches 0. For instance, if you were given f(x) = mx+b, you would find f(x) the derivative through the following calculations: 1. 2. 3. f(x +h) f(x) = [ m ( x+h ) + b) ] - (mx + b) h h mx + mh + b mx b = mh = m, h0 h h lim m = m
h0

Replacing variables in the difference quotient Simplifying The limit, since m represents a constant

Thus, if f(x) = mx + b, then f(x) = m. If a car travels 120 miles in two hours, its average velocity is 60 miles per hour. This is the average rate of change of distance with respect to time. However, it is rare that a car has a constant speed of 60 mph; 60 is merely the average speed. At any moment during the trip, the speed of the car has an instantaneous rate of change. If a distance s is a function of time t and the total duration of the trip is measured by h, then average velocity is given by s( t + h ) - s(t). h On the other hand, the instantaneous rate of change is found by letting h approach 0: lim s( t + h ) - s(t). h0 h Velocity (v) and acceleration (a) in calculus are described mathematically as follows: Velocity v(t) = lim s( t + h ) - s(t) = s(t) h0 h Acceleration a(t) = v(t)

A tangent line is a line that intersects a circle at one point. For example, the tires of a car are

always tangent to the road. The road acts as a tangent line. Likewise, a tangent line to a curve is a line that just touches the curve, although it may intersect the curve at more than one point. The slope of a curve at any point is equal to the slope of the tangent line to the curve at that point. How do we calculate the slope? Say a tangent line contains point a P and has slope m, where m is the limit of the slopes of the secant lines as the points Q approach P. P has coordinates (x, f(x)) and the coordinates of Q are (x + h, f(x+ h)). We know the slope of the secant line PQ is given by the difference quotient: f(x+h) - f(x) h As points Q approach P, x + h approaches x and h approaches zero. Therefore, the slope of the tangent line is as follows: f (x) = lim x0 f(x+h) - f(x) h If the graph of a function has a derivative at every point, the function is said to be differentiable. Theres a quick way to see if a function is differentiable at every point in its domain, or if there are some points at which it is nondifferentiable. Simply graph the function. If the graph appears to have a definable slope at every point, then the function is probably differentiable. We can look for three signs that indicate differentiation problems. Is there a point on the graph where the function cannot be defined (i.e. is there a gap)? Is there a space between two points on the graph (i.e. is there a jump)? Is there somewhere on the graph where the function takes a sudden sharp turn? If the answer to any of these questions is yes, then the graph is nondifferentiable. The process of integration (or anti-differentiation), however, can be thought of as the polar opposite of differentiation. Integration is used to find a function whose derivative is a given function. The process of integration is useful when finding the area under a curve over a closed intervals well as finding the accumulation of a certain quantity over an interval. If we wanted to indicate that the antiderivative of x2 is x3/3 + C we would write:

x dx = x + C
2 3

3 Note that f(x)dx is referred to as an integral. We could also write

f(x)dx = F(x) + C
where F(x) + C is the general form of the anti-derivative of f(x). This is read, the indefinite integral of f(x) is F(x) + C. The constant C is called the constant of integration and can have any fixed value, hence the term indefinite integral. The symbol is called an integral sign and f(x) is called the integrand. Below are four basic integration formulas. They can be checked by differentiating the right side and noting that the result in each case is the integrand:

1.

k dx = kx + C

(k is a constant)

2.

xr dx = x

r+1

+ C (provided r is not equal to -1)

r+1

( The above formula shows us that, to integrate a power of x other than -1, we can increase the power by 1 and divide by the increased power.) 3.

x-1 dx = 1 dx = dx = ln x + C,
x x

x>0

( It is always assumed that x > 0.) 4.

be

ax

dx = b e + C a

ax

The following rules, when combined with the above formulas, will allow us to find many integrals. They can be derived by reversing the power rule and sum rule, respectively.

kf(x) dx = k f(x) dx
(The integral of a constant times a function is the constant times the integral of the function.)

[f(x) + g(x)] dx = f(x) dx + g(x) dx

(The integral of a sum is the sum of the integrals.) Please note that we can always check our integration by differentiating. Now that we have explored the basics of integration, lets look at how we can use this process to find area. Consider a function whose outputs are positive in an interval. We wish to find the area of a region between the graph of the function and the x-axis. Lets first consider a constant function f(x)=m on the interval [0, x]. The graph of this function forms a rectangle. If the area is mx, the area function is A(x) = mx. On the other hand, the graph of the function f(x)=mx forms a right triangle. In this case the area function is A(x) = mx 2. Finally, consider the graph of the function f(x) = mx + b. The figure formed by this graph is a trapezoid; what is the area function for this? By drawing a horizontal line half-way up on the graph and dividing the figure to a rectangle and triangle, it becomes evident that we can find the area of the trapezoid by finding the area of the rectangle plus the area of the triangle. This should result in the area function A(x) = mx2 + bx. Now if we graph this function, we find not a graph shaped like a polygon, but a graph with a curve. We can still find the area of this graph. Before we do this, lets look at a table of the functions and the resulting functions from the area of their graphs: f(x) = 3 f(x) = m f(x) = 3x f(x) = mx f(x) = mx + b A(x)= 3x A(x)=mx A(x)=3/2 x2 A(x)=mx2 A(x) = mx2 + bx

From this table we can conclude that A(x) is an anti-derivative of f(x). Let f be a positive, continuous function on an interval and let A(x) be the area between the resulting graph of f and the x-axis on the interval [a,x]. Then A(x) is a differentiable function of x and A(x) = f(x). The derivative of A(x) is

A(x) = lim A( x + h ) - A(x) h0 h The area of this section on the graph is approximately that of a rectangle with base h and height f(x). Therefore, A( x + h ) - A(x) f(x) h. Now we have the below differentiation equation to simplify: A(x) = lim f(x) h h0 h = lim f(x) = f(x)
h0

since f(x) does not involve h. (Note: the theorem above also holds if f(x)=0 at one or both endpoints of an interval.) So, in short, we can think of the area function as A(x) = the area on interval [a,x] where a is a fixed point on the graph and x varies. To make sure the reader understands the concept, lets try another problem. If you were asked to find the area under the graph of y = x2 + 1 on the interval [-1, 2], you would first look at the graph as well as the region in question. In this case it is not a polygon, but a curve. A(x) is the area on this graph within the interval [-1, x]. Therefore, A(x) = (x2 + 1) dx = x3 + x + C. 3 We must find C. Since the interval begins at -1 and there is no area above -1 ( i.e. A(-1) = 0 ), we can substitute -1 for x in the equation: A(-1) = (-1)3 + (-1) + C = 0 3 _11+C=0 3 C = 4/3 Since it is evident that C = 4/3, this leaves us with A(x) = x3 + x + 4 3 3 And since the interval is [-1, 2] we can replace x with 2 in the equation: A(2) = 23 + 2 + 4 3 3 = 8 + 2 + 4 = 12 + 2 = 4 + 2 = 6 3 3 3