4 Integrals

Copyright © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.

4.1 The Area and Distance Problems

Copyright © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.

The Area Problem

3
The Area Problem
We begin by attempting to solve the area problem: Find the area of the region
S that lies under the curve y = f(x) from a to b.

This means that S, illustrated in Figure 1, is bounded by the graph of a

continuous function f [where f(x) ≥ 0], the vertical lines x = a and x = b, and the
x-axis.

S = {( x, y ) | a  x  b, 0  y  f ( x)}
Figure 1
4
The Area Problem
For a rectangle, the area is defined as the product of the length and the width.
The area of a triangle is half the base times the height.

The area of a polygon is found by dividing it into triangles (as in Figure 2) and
adding the areas of the triangles.

Figure 2

5
The Area Problem
It isn’t so easy, however, to find the area of a region with curved sides. We all
have an intuitive idea of what the area of a region is. But part of the area
problem is to make this intuitive idea precise by giving an exact definition of
area.

We know that in defining a tangent we first approximated the slope of the

tangent line by slopes of secant lines and then we took the limit of these
approximations.

We first approximate the region S by rectangles and then we take the limit of
the sum of the areas of the approximating rectangles as we increase the
number of rectangles.

6
Example 1
Use rectangles to estimate the area under the parabola y = x 2 from 0 ≤ x ≤ 1
(the parabolic region S illustrated in Figure 3).

Figure 3

7
Example 1 – Solution
We first notice that the area of S must be somewhere between 0 and 1
because S is contained in a square with side length 1, but we can certainly do
better than that.
Suppose we divide S into four strips S1, S2, S3, and S4 by drawing the
1 1 3
vertical lines x = , x = , and x = as in Figure 4(a).
4 2 4

Figure 4(a)
8
 Example 1 – Solution
We can approximate each strip by a rectangle that has the same base as the strip
and whose height is the same as the right edge of the strip [see Figure 4(b)].

In other words, the heights of these

rectangles are the values of the function
f ( x ) = x 2 at the right endpoints of the
subintervals 0, 41  ,  41 , 21  ,  21 , 34  , and  34 , 1 .

Each rectangle has width 1 and the heights

4
are ( ) ( ) ( )
1 2
4
, 1 2
2
, 3 2
4
, and 12 .
Figure 4(b)

9
Example 1 – Solution
If we let R4 be the sum of the areas of these approximating rectangles, we get
2 2 2
1  1 1  1 1 3 1
R4 =    +    +    +  12
4 4 4 2 4 4 4
15
=
32
= 0.46875

From Figure 4(b) we see that the area A of S is less than R4, so

A  0.46875

10
Example 1 – Solution
Instead of using the rectangles in Figure 4(b) we could use the smaller
rectangles in Figure 5 whose heights are the values of f at the left endpoints of
the subintervals. (The leftmost rectangle has collapsed because its height is 0.)

Figure 4(b) Figure 5

11
Example 1 – Solution
The sum of the areas of these approximating rectangles is
2 2 2
1 1  1 1  1 1 3
L4 =  02 +    +    +   
4 4 4 4 2 4 4
7
=
32
= 0.21875

We see that the area of S is larger than L4, so we have lower and upper
estimates for A:
0.21875  A  0.46875

We can repeat this procedure with a larger number of strips.

12
Example 1 – Solution
Figure 6 shows what happens when we divide the region S into eight strips of
equal width.

(a) Using left endpoints (b) Using right endpoints

Approximating S with eight rectangles

Figure 6

13
Example 1 – Solution
By computing the sum of the areas of the smaller rectangles (L8) and the sum
of the areas of the larger rectangles (R8), we obtain better lower and upper
estimates for A:
0.2734375  A  0.3984375

So one possible answer to the question is to say that the true area of S lies
somewhere between 0.2734375 and 0.3984375.

We could obtain better estimates by increasing the number of strips.

14
 Example 1 – Solution
The table at the right shows the results of n Ln Rn
similar calculations (with a computer) 10 0.2850000 0.3850000
using n rectangles whose heights are
20 0.3087500 0.3587500
found with left endpoints (Ln) or right
endpoints (Rn). 30 0.3168519 0.3501852
50 0.3234000 0.3434000
100 0.3283500 0.3383500
1000 0.3328335 0.3338335

In particular, we see by using 50 strips that the area lies between 0.3234 and
0.3434. With 1000 strips we narrow it down even more: A lies between
0.3328335 and 0.3338335.
A good estimate is obtained by averaging these numbers: A ≈ 0.3333335.
15
Example 2
For the region S in Example 1, show that the approximating sums Rn approach
1
3
, that is,
lim 𝑅𝑛 = 13
𝑛→∞

Solution:
Rn is the sum of the areas of the n rectangles in Figure 7.

Figure 7

16
Example 2 – Solution
Each rectangle has width 1/n and the heights are the values of the function
f(x) = x2 at the points 1/n, 2/n, 3/n, . . . , n/n; that is, the heights are (1/n)2, (2/n)2,
(3/n)2, . . . , (n/n)2. Thus

1 1 1 2 1 3 1 𝑛
𝑅𝑛 = 𝑓 + 𝑓 + 𝑓 + ⋯+ 𝑓
𝑛 𝑛 𝑛 𝑛 𝑛 𝑛 𝑛 𝑛

2 2 2 2
1 1 1 2 1 3 1 𝑛
= + + + ⋯+
𝑛 𝑛 𝑛 𝑛 𝑛 𝑛 𝑛 𝑛

1 1 2
= ∙ 2 1 + 22 + 32 + ⋯ + 𝑛 2
𝑛 𝑛
= 1/𝑛3 12 + 22 + 32 + ⋯ + 𝑛2
17
Example 2 – Solution
Here we need the formula for the sum of the squares of the first n positive
integers:
2 2 2 2
𝑛 𝑛 + 1 2𝑛 + 1
1 1 + 2 + 3 + ⋯+ 𝑛 =
6
Perhaps you have seen this formula before. It is proved in Example 5 in
Appendix B.
Putting Formula 1 into our expression for Rn, we get

1 𝑛 𝑛 + 1 2𝑛 + 1 𝑛 + 1 2𝑛 + 1
𝑅𝑛 = 3 ∙ =
𝑛 6 6𝑛2

18
Example 2 – Solution
Thus we have
𝑛 + 1 2𝑛 + 1
lim 𝑅𝑛 = lim
𝑛→∞ 𝑛→∞ 6𝑛2

1 𝑛+1 2𝑛 + 1
= lim
𝑛→∞ 6 𝑛 𝑛

1 1 1
= lim 1+ 2+
𝑛→∞ 6 𝑛 𝑛

1 1
= ∙1∙2=
6 3

19
The Area Problem
From Figures 8 and 9 it appears that as n increases, both Ln and Rn become
better and better approximations to the area of S.

Right endpoints produce upper sums because f ( x ) = x 2 is increasing.

Figure 8

20
The Area Problem

Left endpoints produce lower sums because f ( x ) = x 2 is increasing.

Figure 9

Therefore we define the area A to be the limit of the sums of the areas of the
approximating rectangles, that is,
1
A = lim Rn = lim Ln =
n → n → 3
21
 The Area Problem
We start by subdividing S into n strips S1, S2, …, Sn of equal width as in Figure 10.

Figure 10

The width of the interval [a, b] is b − a, so the width of each of the n strips is
b−a
x =
n
22
The Area Problem
These strips divide the interval [a, b] into n subintervals

[ x0 , x1],[ x1, x2 ],[ x2 , x3 ],...[ xn −1, xn ]

where x0 = a and xn = b.

The right endpoints of the subintervals are

x1 = a + x,
x2 = a + 2x,
x3 = a + 3x,

and, in general, xi = a + i x.

23
The Area Problem
Let’s approximate the ith strip Si by a rectangle with width Δx and height f (xi),
which is the value of f at the right endpoint (see Figure 11).

Figure 11

Then the area of the ith rectangle is f(xi) Δx. What we think of intuitively as the
area of S is approximated by the sum of the areas of these rectangles, which is
Rn = f ( x1 ) x + f ( x2 ) x + + f ( xn ) x

24
The Area Problem
Figure 12 shows this approximation for n = 2, 4, 8, and 12. Notice that this
approximation appears to become better and better as the number of strips
increases, that is, as n → ∞.

Figure 12

25
The Area Problem
Therefore we define the area A of the region S in the following way.

2 Definition The area A of the region S that lies under the graph of the
continuous function f is the limit of the sum of the areas of approximating
rectangles:
A = lim Rn = lim f ( x1 ) x + f ( x2 ) x + + f ( xn ) x 
n → n →

It can be proved that the limit in Definition 2 always exists, since we are
assuming that f is continuous. It can also be shown that we get the same value
if we use left endpoints:
3 A = lim Ln = lim f ( x0 ) x + f ( x1 ) x + + f ( xn −1 ) x 
n → n →

26
The Area Problem
In fact, instead of using left endpoints or right endpoints, we could take the
height of the ith rectangle to be the value of f at any number xi in the ith
subinterval [xi – 1, xi ]. We call the numbers x1, x2, . . . , xn the sample points.

Figure 13 shows approximating rectangles

when the sample points are not chosen to
be endpoints.

Figure 13
So a more general expression for the area of S is
4
n → 
( ) ( )
A = lim f x1 x + f x2 x + ( )
+ f xn x 

27
The Area Problem
Note:
To approximate the area under the graph of f we can form lower sums (or
upper sums) by choosing the sample points xi so that f(xi) is the minimum
(or maximum) value of f on the ith subinterval (see Figure 14).

Figure 14

28
The Area Problem
It can be shown that an equivalent definition of area is the following: A is the
unique number that is smaller than all the upper sums and bigger than all the
lower sums.

We saw in Example 1, for instance, that the area ( A = 31 ) is trapped between

all the left approximating sums Ln and all the right approximating sums Rn.

The function in the example, f ( x ) = x 2 , happens to be increasing on [0, 1]

and so the lower sums arise from left endpoints and the upper sums from right
endpoints.

29
The Area Problem
See Figures 8 and 9.

Right endpoints produce upper sums because f ( x ) = x 2 is increasing.

Figure 8

30
The Area Problem

Left endpoints produce lower sums because f ( x ) = x 2 is increasing

Figure 9

31
The Area Problem
We often use sigma notation to write sums with many terms more compactly.
For instance,
n
 f ( xi ) x = f ( x1 ) x + f ( x2 ) x + + f ( xn ) x
i =1

So the expressions for area in Equations 2, 3, and 4 can be written as follows:

n
A = lim  f ( xi ) x
n →
i =1

n
A = lim  f ( xi −1 ) x
n →
i =1

( )
n
A = lim  f xi x
n →
i =1 32
The Area Problem

We can also rewrite Formula 1 in the following way:

n n ( n + 1)( 2n + 1)
i 2
=
6
i =1

33
Example 3
Let A be the area of the region that lies under the graph of f(x) = cos x between
x = 0 and x = b, where 0 ≤ b ≤ π/2.
(a) Using right endpoints, find an expression for A as a limit. Do not evaluate
the limit.
(b) Estimate the area for the case b = π/2 by taking the sample points to be
midpoints and using four subintervals.
Solution (a):
Since a = 0, the width of a subinterval is

𝑏−0 𝑏
∆𝑥 = =
𝑛 𝑛
34
Example 3 – Solution (a)
So x1 = b/n, x2 = 2b/n, x3 = 3b/n, xi = ib/n, and xn = nb/n. The sum of the areas
of the approximating rectangles is

𝑅𝑛 = 𝑓 𝑥1 ∆𝑥 + 𝑓 𝑥2 ∆𝑥 + ⋯ + 𝑓 𝑥𝑛 ∆𝑥
= cos 𝑥1 ∆𝑥 + cos 𝑥2 ∆𝑥 + ⋯ + cos 𝑥𝑛 ∆𝑥

𝑏 𝑏 2𝑏 𝑏 𝑛𝑏 𝑏
= cos + cos + ⋯ + cos
𝑛 𝑛 𝑛 𝑛 𝑛 𝑛

According to Definition 2, the area is

𝑏 𝑏 2𝑏 3𝑏 𝑛𝑏
𝐴 = lim 𝑅𝑛 = lim cos + cos + cos + ⋯ + cos
𝑛→∞ 𝑛→∞ 𝑛 𝑛 𝑛 𝑛 𝑛
35
Example 3 – Solution (a)
Using sigma notation we could write

𝑛
𝑏 𝑖𝑏
𝐴 = lim ෍ cos
𝑛→∞ 𝑛 𝑛
𝑖=0

It is very difficult to evaluate this limit directly by hand, but with the aid of a
computer algebra system it isn’t hard (see Exercise 19). In Section 4.3 we will
be able to find A more easily using a different method.

36
Example 3 – Solution (b)
With n = 4 and b = π/2 we have ∆𝑥 = 𝜋Τ2 Τ4 = 𝜋Τ8, so the subintervals are
[0, π/8], [π/8, π/4], [π/4, 3π/8], and [3π/8, π/2]. The midpoints of these
subintervals are
∗
𝜋 ∗
3𝜋 ∗
5𝜋 ∗
7𝜋
𝑥1 = 𝑥2 = 𝑥3 = 𝑥4 =
16 16 16 16

and the sum M4 of the areas of the four approximating rectangles (see Figure
15) is

Figure 15 37
Example 3 – Solution (b)
4

𝑀4 = ෍ 𝑓 𝑥𝑖∗ ∆𝑥
𝑖=0
= 𝑓 𝜋Τ16 ∆𝑥 + 𝑓 3 𝜋Τ16 ∆𝑥 + 𝑓 5 𝜋Τ16 ∆𝑥 + 𝑓 7𝜋Τ16 ∆𝑥

𝜋 𝜋 3𝜋 𝜋 5𝜋 𝜋 7𝜋 𝜋
= cos + cos + cos + cos
16 8 16 8 16 8 16 8

𝜋 𝜋 3𝜋 5𝜋 7𝜋
= cos + cos + cos + cos ≈ 1.006
8 16 16 16 16

So an estimate for the area is

𝐴 ≈ 1.006
38
The Distance Problem

39
The Distance Problem
Now let’s consider the distance problem: find the distance traveled by an object
during a certain time period if the velocity of the object is known at all times.

If the velocity remains constant, then the distance problem is easy to solve by
means of the formula

distance = velocity × time

But if the velocity varies, it’s not so easy to find the distance traveled.

40
Example 4
Suppose the odometer on our car is broken and we want to estimate the
distance driven over a 30-second time interval. We take speedometer readings
every five seconds and record them in the following table:

In order to have the time and the velocity in consistent units, let’s convert the
velocity readings to feet per second (1 km/h = 1000/3600 m/s)

41
To convert km/h to m/s, you can use the conversion factor 1 km/h = 0.277777778 m/s.
So, to convert the given velocities from km/h to m/s:
•27 km/h = 27 x 0.277777778 m/s = 7.5 m/s
•34 km/h = 34 x 0.277777778 m/s = 9.4 m/s
•49 km/h = 49 x 0.277777778 m/s = 13.6 m/s
•47 km/h = 47 x 0.277777778 m/s = 13.1 m/s
•51 km/h = 51 x 0.277777778 m/s = 14.2 m/s
•50 km/h = 50 x 0.277777778 m/s = 13.9 m/s
•45 km/h = 45 x 0.277777778 m/s = 12.5 m/s
Therefore, the velocities in m/s are approximately: 7.5 m/s, 9.4 m/s, 13.6 m/s, 13.1 m/s, 14.2 m/s, 13.9
m/s, and 12.5 m/s.

42
Example 4
During the first five seconds the velocity doesn’t change very much, so we can
estimate the distance traveled during that time by assuming that the velocity is
constant.

If we take the velocity during that time interval to be the initial velocity (8 m/s),
then we obtain the approximate distance traveled during the first five seconds:

8 mΤs × 5 s = 40 m

43
Example 4
Similarly, during the second time interval the velocity is approximately constant
and we take it to be the velocity when t = 5 s.

So our estimate for the distance traveled from t = 5 s to t = 10 s is

9 m/s × 5 s = 45 m

If we add similar estimates for the other time intervals, we obtain an estimate
for the total distance traveled:

(8 × 5) + (9 × 5) + (10 × 5) + (12 × 5) + (13 × 5) + (12 × 5) = 320 m

44
Example 4
We could just as well have used the velocity at the end of each time period
instead of the velocity at the beginning as our assumed constant velocity.

Then our estimate becomes

(9 × 5) + (10 × 5) + (12 × 5) + (13 × 5) + (12 × 5) + (11 × 5) = 335 m

Now let’s sketch an approximate graph

of the velocity function of the car along
with rectangles whose heights are the
initial velocities for each time interval
[see Figure 16(a)].

Figure 16 45
Example 4
The area of the first rectangle is 8 × 5 = 40, which is also our estimate for the
distance traveled in the first five seconds.

In fact, the area of each rectangle can be interpreted as a distance because the
height represents velocity and the width represents time.

The sum of the areas of the rectangles in Figure 16(a) is L6 = 320, which is our
initial estimate for the total distance traveled.

46
Example 4
If we want a more accurate estimate, we could take velocity readings more
often, as illustrated in Figure 16(b). You can see that the more velocity readings
we take, the closer the sum of the areas of the rectangles gets to the exact
area under the velocity curve [see Figure 16(c)].

Figure 16

This suggests that the total distance traveled is equal to the area under the
velocity graph.
47
The Distance Problem
In general, suppose an object moves with velocity v = f(t), where a ≤ t ≤ b and
f(t) ≥ 0 (so the object always moves in the positive direction).

We take velocity readings at times t0 (= a), t1, t2,. . ., tn (= b) so that the velocity
is approximately constant on each subinterval.

If these times are equally spaced, then the time between consecutive readings is
t =
( b − a)
. During the first time interval the velocity is approximately f(t0) and
n
so the distance traveled is approximately f(t0) Δt.

48
The Distance Problem
Similarly, the distance traveled during the second time interval is about f(t1) Δt
and the total distance traveled during the time interval [a, b] is approximately
n
f (t0 ) t + f (t1 ) t + + f (tn −1 ) t =  f (t i −1 ) t
i =1

If we use the velocity at right endpoints instead of left endpoints, our estimate
for the total distance becomes
n
f (t1 ) t + f (t 2 ) t + + f (t n ) t =  f (t i ) t
i =1

49
The Distance Problem
The more frequently we measure the velocity, the more accurate our estimates
become, so it seems plausible that the exact distance d traveled is the limit of
such expressions:

n n
5 d = lim  f ( t i −1 ) t = lim  f ( t i ) t
n → n →
i =1 i =1

50