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Math 201 Lia Vas

Areas between Curves


If f (x) and g (x) are two continuous functions dened on interval [a, b] such that f (x) g (x) for all x [a, b] then the

area between the graphs of f and g on [a, b] is


b

A=
a

(f (x) g (x)) dx.

The area between two intersecting curves f (x) and g (x) can be found following the steps below. 1. The bounds of integration are the intersections of the two curves and can be obtained by solving f (x) = g (x) for x. Note that you can have more than two solutions and more than one relevant region (e.g. problems 8 and 9 below). 2. If f and g intersect only at x = a and x = b, determine which function has larger values on (a, b). In some cases, graph may be telling enough. If it is not, take an x-value, say x = c, between a and b and plug it in both functions. Comparing f (c) and g (c) determines which function is greater on (a, b). Be careful to pick a point within (a, b) i.e. between a and b. 3. If f (c) is larger than g (c), then nd the area as b then nd the area as a (g (x) f (x)) dx.
b a (f (x)

g (x)) dx. If g (c) is larger than f (c),

If x = f (y ) and x = g (y ) and you need to nd the area between them, you can interchange the variables and nd the area between y = f (x) and y = g (x). If you need to nd the area between three curves, graph the curves and divide the total area into (at least) two regions, each of which is between a pair of curves. Practice Problems. Find the area of the region between the given curves. 1. y = x2 + 3, y = x, x = 1, x = 1 2. y = 4x2 , y = x2 + 3 3. y = x2 , y = x 4. y = x + 3, y =

x+3 2

5. y = x2 , y 2 = x 6. y 2 = x, x 2y = 3 7. x = y 3 y, x = 1 y 2 8. y = x3 , y = 3x2 2x 9. y = x3 , y = x 10. y = 3x 3, y = 2 2x, y = 11. y = x, y = 2x, y = 6 x


+16x+9 12. A botanist knows that a certain species of oak tree grows at a rate of 4x 2 feet per year, x+4 where x is the age of the tree in years. When restricting the light, the oak tree grows at a rate 2x2 +12x+9 feet per year in x years. Determine how many fewer feet in growth will result from 2x+4 restricting the amount of light that tree receives when the tree is between 3 and 8 years old.
2

x 2

+2

Solutions. 1. The bounds of integration are given to be -1 and 1. Using either the graph or plugging a point from (-1,1) into both curves (for example 0), you can see that y = x2 +3 is greater than y = x on 1 x3 x2 20 2 (-1,1) (3 = 02 +3 > 0). Thus, the area can be found as A = 1 (x +3 x)dx = 3 3x 2 = 3 . 2. Find the intersections rst. 4x2 = x2 + 3 3x2 = 3 x2 = 1 x = 1 and x = 1. On interval (1, 1), the curve y = x2 + 3 is greater than y = 4x2 (you can plug 0 to see that: 1 1 2 2 2 (3 = 02 + 3 > 4(0)2 = 0). So, the area is A = 1 (x + 3 4x )dx = 1 (3 3x )dx = 3 3x 3x |1 = 3 1 + 3 1 = 4. 3 1 3. Intersections: x2 = x x2 x = x(x 1) = 0 x = 0 and x = 1. On interval (0, 1), the 3 2 1 x |1 = 2 1 =1 . curve y = x is greater than y = x2 . The area is A = 01 (x x2 )dx = x 2 3 0 3 6 2 4. Intersections: x + 3 = x+3 x +3 = (x+3) 4(x +3) = (x +3)2 0 = (x +3)2 4(x +3)0 = 2 4 (x + 3)[x + 3 4] 0 = (x + 3)(x 1) x = 3 and x = (3, 1), the curve 1. On interval 1 x+3 x+3 y = x + 3 is greater than y = 2 . The area is A = 3 ( x + 3 2 )dx. Use substitution
16 4 u = x + 3 to obtain that this integral is = 2(x+3) (x+3) |1 3 = 3 4 = 3 = 1.33. 3 4 5. If y 2 = x, then y = x but just the positive branch intersect the curve y = x2 . Thus, you can consider y = x2 and y = x. The curves intersect when x2 = x x4 = x x4 x = x(x3 1) = 0 x = 0 and x3 = 1 x = 0 and x = 1. The area can be computed as 3/2 3 2 A = 01 ( x x2 )dx = 2x3 x |1 = 3 1 =1 . 3 0 3 3
3/2 2

6. The line x 2y = 3 intersect both positive and negative branch of y 2 = x y = x. Analyzing the graph, you can note that the area cannot be obtained using a single integral. However, interchanging x and y variables, you obtain much easier set up: the region between the curves x2 = y, y 2x = 3 y = x2 , y = 2x + 3, can be computed using single integral and interchanging the variables does not impact the size of the intersecting region.

Find the intersections rst. x2 = 2x + 3 x2 2x 3 = 0 x = 1 and x = 3. On interval 3 2 (1, 3), the curve y = 2x + 3 is greater than y = x2 . The area is A = 1 (2x + 3 x )dx = 3 1 x2 + 3 x x |3 = 9 + 9 9 (1 3 + 1 ) = 11 3 = 32 . 3 1 3 3 If you dont notice that interchanging the creates an easier set up, you can compute variables 3 )dx and obtain the same answer. the area as A = A1 + A2 = 01 ( x ( x)dx + 19 ( x x 2 7. In this problem, the curves are given in terms of x. If you feel more comfortable working with curves given in terms of y , you can interchange the variables and nd the area between y = x3 x and y = 1 x2 . Intersections: x3 x + x2 1 = 0 x(x2 1) + x2 1 = 0 (x2 1)(x + 1) = (x 1)(x + 1)2 = 0 x = 1 and x = 1. On (-1,1), y = 1 x2 is greater. 1 4 x3 x4 x2 1 2 3 The area is A = 1 (1 x x + x)dx = x 3 4 + 2 |1 = 3 = 1.33. 8. Find the intersections. x3 = 3x2 2x x3 3x2 + 2x = 0 x(x2 3x + 2) = 0 x(x 1)(x 2) = 0. So, the curves intersect at x = 0, x = 1, and x = 2. On interval [0,1], the curve y = x3 is greater than y = 3x2 2x. On interval [1,2], the opposite is the case. Thus, the total area can be obtained as the sum of the area over [0,1] and the area over [1,2]. A = A1 + A2 =
1 3 0 (x

3x2 + 2x)dx +

2 2 1 (3x

1 . 2x x3 )dx. Compute this sum to be 2

9. Find the intersections. x3 = x x3 x = x(x2 1) = x(x 1)(x + 1) = 0. So, the curves intersect at x = 0, x = 1, and x = 1. On interval [-1,0], the curve y = x3 is greater than y = x. On interval [0,1], the opposite is the case. Thus, the total area can be computed as 0 1 1 3 3 A = A1 + A2 = 1 (x x)dx + 0 (x x )dx. Compute this sum to be 2 . 10. Find the three intersections rst. (1) 3x 3 = 2 2x 5x = 5 x = 1. (2) 3x 3 = x + 2 6x 6 = x + 4 5x = 10 x = 2. 2 x (3) 2 2x = 2 + 2 4 4x = x + 4 5x = 0 x = 0. The relevant region consists of two parts: the area A1 on interval [0,1] between the upper curve y=x + 2 and the lower y = 2 2x, and the area A2 on interval [1,2] between the upper curve 2 y=x + 2 and the lower y = 3x 3. 2
2 x 2 5 + 2 2 + 2x)dx = 01 5 xdx = 5 x2 |1 A1 = 01 ( x 0 = 4 = 1.25. A2 = 1 ( 2 + 2 3x + 3)dx = 1 (5 2 2 4 5 5 5 5 5 5 x)dx = 5x 5 x2 |2 1 = 10 5 5+ 4 = 4 = 1.25. The total area is A = A1 + A2 = 4 + 4 = 2 = 2.5. 2 4

11. Find the three intersections rst. (1) x = 6 x 2x = 6 x = 3. (2) 2x = 6 x 3x = 6 x = 2. (3) 2x = x x = 0. The relevant region consists of two parts: the area A1 on interval [0,2] between the upper curve y = 2x and the lower y = x, and the area A2 on interval [2,3] between the upper curve y = 6 x and the lower y = x. Thus, the total area can be computed as A = A1 + A2 = x2 2 | + (6x x2 )|3 2 = 2 + (18 9 12 + 4) = 3. 2 0
2 0 (2x

x)dx +

3 2 (6

x x)dx =

12. The dierence in the growth of the oak thee in the two dierent set up from 3 to 8 years can be found as the dierence of the two denite integrals computing the total growth in two 2 +16x+9 2 +12x+9 cases: 38 4x 2 dx 38 2x 2 dx. Note that it is easier to combine the two integrals and x+4 x+4 2 +16x+9 2 +12x+9 2 2x2 12x9 then evaluate the resulting integral 38 4x 2 2x 2 dx = 38 4x +16x+9 dx = x+4 x+4 2x+4
8 2x2 +4x 3 2x+4

dx =

8 x(2x+4) 3 2x+4

dx =

8 3

xdx =

x2 8 | 2 3

55 2

= 27.5 feet.

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