Summary sheet: Integration

H1 Know and use the Fundamental Theorem of Calculus

n
H2 Integrate x (excluding n = -1), and related sums, differences and constant multiples
H3 Evaluate definite integrals; use a definite integral to find the area under a curve

Notation
Integration questions are usually given as follows:

∫ (3𝑥 2 + 7𝑥 − 1 )d𝑥

Means: Integrate the following with respect to 𝑥

The fundamental theorem of calculus

Remember that integration is the reverse of differentiation (they ‘undo’ each other). The rule for
differentiation is: expression X power, then reduce the power by 1. So integration is the opposite:

∫ Add 1 to the power then

𝑥 𝑛+1
𝑥 𝑛 d𝑥 = +𝑐
𝑛+1
divide the expression by
and
∫𝑘𝑥 𝑛
d𝑥 =
𝑘𝑥 𝑛+1
𝑛+1
+𝑐 the new power

Remember for each term: power +1 then divide by new power.

e.g.
∫ (𝟏𝟓𝒙𝟐 − 𝟔𝒙 + 𝟕 )d𝒙
Remember to include the 𝑐 because
15𝑥 3 6𝑥 2 there could have been a number in the
= − + 7𝑥 + 𝑐
3 2
original that disappeared when
differentiating.
= 5𝑥 3 − 3𝑥 2 + 7𝑥 + 𝑐

You will only be able to find 𝑐 if you are given some more information.

e.g. for the above example, when 𝒙 = 𝟏, 𝒚 = 𝟔. Find the value of 𝒄

You have found that 𝑦 = 5𝑥 3 − 3𝑥 2 + 7𝑥 + 𝑐, so just substitute the given values in to find 𝑐.

6 = 5(1)3 − 3(1)2 + 7(1) + 𝑐

6−5+3−7=𝑐
𝑐 = −3

So the final answer is: 𝑦 = 5𝑥 3 − 3𝑥 2 + 7𝑥 − 3

1 of 2 07/07/16 © MEI
 Summary sheet: Integration

Definite integrals
A definite integral has limits. To evaluate a definite integral you integrate as normal then substitute the
top limit and the bottom limit and subtract.

[𝒕𝒐𝒑 𝒍𝒊𝒎𝒊𝒕] − [𝒃𝒐𝒕𝒕𝒐𝒎 𝒍𝒊𝒎𝒊𝒕]

Remember that definite integration is used to find the area under a curve (“Under the curve” means
between the curve and the 𝑥-axis).

e.g. Find the area enclosed by the curve 𝒚 = −𝒙𝟐 + 𝟕𝒙 − 𝟏𝟎 and the lines 𝒙 = 𝟑 and 𝒙 = 𝟓

Upper limit
5

Set up the integration:

∫ (−𝑥 2 + 7𝑥 − 10)d𝑥
3
Lower limit Notice that you don’t need to
include the 𝑐, because you are
5 going to subtract, so it would
𝑥 3 7𝑥 2 cancel out anyway.
= [− + − 10𝑥]
Integrate: 3 2 3

53 7(5)2 33 7(3)2
= [− + − 10(5)] − [− + − 10(3)]
[𝑡𝑜𝑝 𝑙𝑖𝑚𝑖𝑡] − [𝑏𝑜𝑡𝑡𝑜𝑚 𝑙𝑖𝑚𝑖𝑡] 3 2 3 2

25 15
= [− ] − [− ]
6 2

10
= (3.3)
3

You have found the area under the curve, between 𝑥 = 3 and 𝑥 = 5.

Remember:
A positive answer means that the area is above the 𝑥-axis and
a negative answer means that the area is below the 𝑥-axis.

If there is a mixture (above and below) you would need to find each area separately and then add the
areas (ignoring the negative sign).

e.g. to find the area enclosed by the curve 𝒚 = 𝒙𝟑 − 𝟕𝒙𝟐 + 𝟏𝟎𝒙 and the 𝒙-axis:

You would integrate with the limits 0 and 2 then separately integrate
with the limits 2 and 5 (expect a negative answer as this area is below
the line).

Total area: ignore the negative sign and add the 2 amounts together.

253
Try it – you should get an area of 12
(approx. 21.1)

2 of 2 07/07/16 © MEI
 Summary sheet: Integration
kx
H2 Integrate e , 1/x, sin kx, cos kx and related sums, differences and constant multiples
H3 Evaluate definite integrals; use a definite integral to find the area between two curves
H4 Understand and use integration as the limit of a sum
H5 Carry out simple cases of integration by substitution and integration by parts; understand these methods as the inverse
processes of the chain and product rules respectively (Integration by substitution includes finding a suitable substitution and
is limited to cases where one substitution will lead to a function which can be integrated; integration by parts includes more
than one application of the method but excludes reduction formulae)
H6 Integrate using partial fractions that are linear in the denominator

Some integrals you need to know:

1 2
∫ d𝑥 = ln 𝑥 + 𝑐 e.g. ∫ d𝑥 = 2ln 𝑥 + 𝑐
𝑥 𝑥
The following use the reverse chain rule (i.e. the chain rule says X by the derivative of the ‘inside
function’ so the reverse chain rule says ÷ by the derivative of the ‘inside function’).
e𝑘𝑥 e5𝑥
∫e 𝑘𝑥
d𝑥 = +𝑐 e.g. ∫ e5𝑥 d𝑥 = +𝑐
𝑘 5
cos 𝑘𝑥 cos 3𝑥
∫ sin 𝑘𝑥 d𝑥 = − +𝑐 e.g. ∫ sin 3𝑥 d𝑥 = − +𝑐
𝑘 3
sin 𝑘𝑥 sin 7𝑥
∫ cos 𝑘𝑥 d𝑥 = +𝑐 e.g. ∫ cos 7𝑥 d𝑥 = +𝑐
𝑘 7

Finding the area between 2 curves

See the AS Summary sheet (integration) for a reminder of how to do definite integration and find the
area under a curve. The same method can be used to find the area between 2 curves and you just have
to remember to subtract the area you don’t need.

The best way is to do a quick sketch so that you know where the curves are, and then you can subtract
the correct area. You will also need to find out where they intersect.

e.g. Find the area between 𝐟(𝒙) and 𝐠(𝒙):

𝑦 Find where the curves intersect by using

𝐟(𝒙) simultaneous equations.

You can see from the sketch that to find the

area between the curves you need to do:
g(𝑥) area below g(𝑥) – area below f(𝑥).

The easiest way is to find the integral of

𝑥 (g(𝑥) − f(𝑥)) between the x-values of the
Subtract this bit as you points of intersection.
don’t need it.

1 of 4 10/04/17 © MEI
 Summary sheet: Integration

Integration as the limit of a sum

Definite integration calculates the area under a curve by splitting the area into lots of little rectangles,
finding the area of each rectangle, and then adding all the areas. The height of each rectangle is 𝑦 (or
f(𝑥)) and the width of each rectangle will be 𝛿𝑥 (small change in 𝑥). As this small change gets smaller
(i.e. lots of very thin rectangles) the answer gets more accurate. i.e. as 𝛿𝑥 → 0 the answer is the most
accurate it can be. The area of each rectangle is f(𝑥) × 𝛿𝑥 (height X width) and so:

𝑏 𝑏

∫ f(𝑥 ) d𝑥 = lim ∑ f(𝑥 )𝛿𝑥 f(𝑥)

𝛿𝑥→0
𝑎 𝑎

𝛿𝑥

Integration by substitution
Remember that when you differentiate using the chain rule you substitute your function of 𝑥 with 𝑢.
You can also use this method of substitution with integration by choosing a function (𝑢(𝑥)) (which can
be differentiated) to help you to integrate a tricky function. You need to substitute all 𝑥′𝑠 (including d𝑥)
with terms involving 𝑢.

e.g. find ∫(𝟒𝒙 − 𝟑)(𝟑𝒙 + 𝟏)𝟑 𝐝𝒙

The (3𝑥 + 1)3 is the tricky part so define a new variable: 𝑢 = 3𝑥 + 1 (then use this to find 𝑥 and d𝑥)

𝑢 = 3𝑥 + 1

𝑑𝑢 d𝑢
Differentiates to give: =3 → ∴ d𝑥 =
𝑑𝑥 3

𝑢 = 3𝑥 + 1

𝑢−1
Rearranges to give: 𝑥= 3

Now substitute all 𝑢 terms into the original problem:

𝑢−1 d𝑢
∫(4𝑥 − 3)(3𝑥 + 1)3 d𝑥 = ∫ (4 ( ) − 3) (𝑢)3
3 3

4 4 𝑢3
= ∫ ( 𝑢 − − 3) d𝑢
3 3 3
4 13
= ∫ ( 𝑢4 − 𝑢3 ) d𝑢
9 9
4 5 13 4
= 𝑢 − 𝑢 +𝑐
45 36

2 of 4 10/04/17 © MEI
 Summary sheet: Integration

To finish the integral off substitute every 𝑢 with 3𝑥 + 1

4 13
= (3𝑥 + 1)5 − (3𝑥 + 1)4 + 𝑐
45 36

N.b. if you were doing definite integration you would also need to change the limits.
For the example above, if the limits were 𝑥 = 2 and 𝑥 = 5 you would need to replace them:

When 𝑥 = 2 𝑢 = 3𝑥 + 1 = 3(2) + 1 = 7
And when 𝑥 = 5 𝑢 = 3𝑥 + 1 = 3(5) + 1 = 16

Integration by parts
This is used to integrate a function multiplied by a function and so it is the equivalent of the product rule
d𝑣
for differentiation BUT instead of calling the functions 𝑢 and 𝑣 you call the functions 𝑢 and d𝑥. This
means that you will differentiate one term and integrate the other.

d𝑣
When choosing which function to call 𝑢 and which to call d𝑥 there is an order of preference for 𝑢 that
will make the integration easier: ln(𝑥)
𝑥
e𝑥

d𝑢 d𝑣
Decide which is which then write down 𝑢, 𝑣, d𝑥 and d𝑥 and substitute them into the formula.

𝐝𝒗 𝐝𝒖
∫𝒖 𝐝𝒙 = 𝒖𝒗 − ∫ 𝒗 𝐝𝒙
𝐝𝒙 𝐝𝒙
Don’t forget you have to integrate the second part of the formula.

Using order of
e.g. ∫ 𝒙𝟐 𝐥𝐧𝒙 𝐝𝒙
preferences choose
𝑥3
differentiate

𝒖 = 𝐥𝐧𝒙 𝑣= 𝑢 = 𝑙𝑛𝑥
integrate

First find the 4 things you need: 3

d𝑢 1 𝐝𝒗
= = 𝒙𝟐
d𝑥 𝑥 𝐝𝒙

Then substitute in the formula: 2

𝑥3 𝑥3 1
∫ 𝑥 ln 𝑥 d𝑥 = ln 𝑥 − ∫ × d𝑥
3 3 𝑥

𝑥3 𝑥2
Tidy up: = ln 𝑥 − ∫ d𝑥
3 3

𝑥 3 𝑥3
Integrate final part: = ln 𝑥 − + 𝑐
3 9

3 of 4 10/04/17 © MEI
 Summary sheet: Integration

N.B. If you still have 2 functions multiplied together inside the new integral you will have to use
integration by parts again. It is a long process so be careful, and systematic, and remember that the
formula says subtract ALL of the new integral so you will need to keep this in a bracket.

e.g. ∫ 𝒙𝟐 𝐞𝒙 𝐝𝒙
𝒖 = 𝒙𝟐 𝑣 = 𝑒𝑥

differentiate

integrate
First find the 4 things you need:
d𝑢 𝐝𝒗
d𝑥
= 2𝑥 𝐝𝒙
= 𝒆𝒙

You need to apply

integration by parts again
Then substitute in the formula: ∫ 𝑥 2 e𝑥 d𝑥 = 𝑥 2 ex − ∫ ex 2𝑥 d𝑥

𝒖 = 𝟐𝒙 𝑣 = 𝑒𝑥

differentiate

integrate
d𝑢 𝐝𝒗
d𝑥
=2 𝐝𝒙
= 𝒆𝒙

Substitute again: = 𝑥 2 e𝑥 − (2𝑥e𝑥 − ∫ 2e𝑥 d𝑥)

Integrate final part & remove bracket: = 𝑥 2 e𝑥 − 2𝑥ex + 2ex + 𝑐

You could factorise to give a final answer of: e𝑥 (𝑥 2 − 2𝑥 + 2) + 𝑐

Integration using partial fractions

𝒙+𝟕
e.g. ∫ 𝐝𝒙
(𝒙 + 𝟏)(𝒙 + 𝟑)

An integration like this looks tricky. However, you can use partial fractions to split it into 2 separate
fractions and make it easier to integrate. See Algebra summary sheet for more information on partial
fractions.

𝑥+7 3 2
∫ d𝑥 = ∫ − d𝑥 = 3ln (𝑥 + 1) − 2ln (𝑥 + 3) + 𝑐
(𝑥 + 1)(𝑥 + 3) 𝑥+1 𝑥+3

4 of 4 10/04/17 © MEI