TRAPEZOIDAL RULE FOR

AREA UNDER THE CURVE

ADVANCED TRIM, STABILITY, AND STRESS
(SEAMANSHIP 6)

A-2
Learning Objectives: At the end of the lesson, the students should
be able to:
▪ Discuss the trapezoidal rule for the area under a curve in terms of
the number of ordinates, the interval and the ordinate value.

▪ Use the trapezoidal rule to calculate the area under a curve defined
by given ordinates
Trapezoid – A flat shape with 4 straight sides with one pair of
parallel sides.

Notations:
a represents the base
b represents the base
h represents the height
Another form of trapezoid: The two angles are 90 degrees
Problem Solving:
In a trapezoid, the bases’ measurements are 10 meters and 15 meters
correspondingly. The height of the trapezoid is 12 meters. What is
the area of the trapezoid?

15 meters
10 meters

12 meters
Solution:
Calculation of each area under the curve

Notations:

x1, x2, x3 represent the height of each trapezoid

y1, y2, y3, y4 represent the bases of each trapezoid

A1, A2, A3 represent the area of each trapezoid

Example:
From the illustration below it has a coordinate in x and y axis. The x
– axis ranges from 0 to 12 while the y – axis ranges from 0 to 8.
Find the total area of trapezoids in the illustration below.
Solution:
The Trapezoidal Rule
Is a procedure or formula used for solving the area under
curve. It merely APPROXIMATES the region under the graph of a
function as a trapezoid, thus, trapezoidal rule does not give accurate
value of area compared to Simpson’s rule.

It follows the pattern:

1 2 2 . . . . 2 2 1
Solutions using trapezoidal rule
Notation:
n represents the interval / related to height of the trapezoid (h)
First solution using the formula h/2(a+b), and the pattern
mentioned:
Second solution using the formula h(a+b/2), and the pattern
mentioned:
Problem: What is the total area in the figure below using
trapezoidal rule?
Solution:
First solution using the formula h/2(a+b), and the pattern
mentioned:
Second solution using the formula h(a+b/2), and the pattern
mentioned:
Conclusion

The trapezoidal rule is used for calculations associated with

the stability of the ship because it measures the waterplane area
which is relevant in calculation thereof.