Riemann Sums

Presented by Dr Chris Tisdell

Chris Tisdell

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H89ZgpJD9Os&list=PLGCj8f6sgswnyu1woFWmYtT1N_
Kc8WCNw&index=30

Chris Tisdell (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H89ZgpJD9Os&list=PLGCj8f6sgswnyu1woFWmYtT1N_Kc8WCNw&index=30)

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 1 Where are we going?

2 Defining the Riemann sum

3 A more general case

4 Properties of the Riemann integral

Chris Tisdell (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H89ZgpJD9Os&list=PLGCj8f6sgswnyu1woFWmYtT1N_Kc8WCNw&index=30)

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 Where are we going?

We will explore the basic building blocks of integral calculus known as

Riemann sums. This includes:
Formally defining a Riemann sum and its relationship with area under
a curve
Learning how to calculate Riemann sums
Some basic examples.

The basic idea with Riemann sums is to approximate the area of under a
curve with rectangles.

Chris Tisdell (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H89ZgpJD9Os&list=PLGCj8f6sgswnyu1woFWmYtT1N_Kc8WCNw&index=30)

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 Defining the Riemann sum

Suppose we slice up an interval [a, b] into n equal segments of width

(b − a)/n to form a partition
 
b−a b−a b−a
Pn = a, a + ,a + 2 , · · · , a + (n − 1) ,b .
n n n

Let a function f be bounded on [a, b]. On each subinterval of Pn , let f

have its maximum at f (xi+ ) and its minimum at f (xi− ).

The lower and upper Riemann sums are respectively defined by

n
X
S Pn = f (xi− )(b − a)/n
i=1
n
X
S Pn = f (xi+ )(b − a)/n
i=1

Chris Tisdell (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H89ZgpJD9Os&list=PLGCj8f6sgswnyu1woFWmYtT1N_Kc8WCNw&index=30)

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 Example

For the function f (x) = x 2 on the interval [0, 1], set up the lower and
upper Riemann sums on P4 .

Chris Tisdell (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H89ZgpJD9Os&list=PLGCj8f6sgswnyu1woFWmYtT1N_Kc8WCNw&index=30)

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 Riemann sums on Pn

For the function f (x) = x 2 on the interval [0, 1], set up the lower and
upper Riemann sums on Pn .
With some careful working we can formulate

n 
i −1 2 1

X 1 n
S Pn = = 3 (n − 1)(2n − 1)
n n n 6
i=1
n  2
X i 1 1 n
S Pn = = 3 (n + 1)(2n + 1).
n n n 6
i=1

We simplify the above expressions and take the limit and n → ∞.

lim S Pn = 1/3, lim S Pn = 1/3.

n→∞ n→∞
R1
The joint value is equal to the area and denoted by 0 x 2 dx
Chris Tisdell (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H89ZgpJD9Os&list=PLGCj8f6sgswnyu1woFWmYtT1N_Kc8WCNw&index=30)
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 Bringing the ideas together

So, we can generalize the preceding ideas to obtain the following:

We partition an interval into n (equal) subintervals
set up the upper and lower Riemann sums (looking for where f
achieves its max and min values)
then take the limit of both sums as n → ∞ (look to simplify the sums
first).
If
R bthe two limits are equal then we denote the joint value by
a f (x) dx.
Rb
If f ≥ 0 then a f (x) dx is the area under the curve.

We can see from the previous examples that the process of evaluating the
Riemann integral is not particularly fast. We will see a much quicker way
of doing this later.

Chris Tisdell (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H89ZgpJD9Os&list=PLGCj8f6sgswnyu1woFWmYtT1N_Kc8WCNw&index=30)

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 Breaking Riemann Integration

Not all functions are Riemann integrable. If Q represents the set of

rational numbers with

 1, for x ∈ Q ∩ [0, 1];
f (x) :=
2, for x 6∈ Q ∩ [0, 1].


R1
then 0 f (x) dx does not make sense.

Chris Tisdell (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H89ZgpJD9Os&list=PLGCj8f6sgswnyu1woFWmYtT1N_Kc8WCNw&index=30)

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 Breaking Riemann Integration

Why doesn’t the following Riemann integral make sense

Z 1
1
dx?
−1 |x|

To summarize, all functions that are bounded and have a finite number of
discontinuities are Riemann integrable.

Chris Tisdell (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H89ZgpJD9Os&list=PLGCj8f6sgswnyu1woFWmYtT1N_Kc8WCNw&index=30)

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 Properties of the Riemann integral

We have the following useful properties:

Z b Z c Z b
f (x) dx = f (x) dx + f (x) dx, for a ≤ c ≤ b
a a c
Z b Z b Z b
f (x) + g (x) dx = f (x) dx + g (x) dx
a a a
Z b Z b
If f ≥ g then f (x) dx ≥ g (x) dx
a a
Z b Z b
αf (x) dx = α f (x) dx, for constant α
a a
Z a Z b Z a
f (x) dx = 0, f (x) dx = − f (x) dx.
a a b

Chris Tisdell (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H89ZgpJD9Os&list=PLGCj8f6sgswnyu1woFWmYtT1N_Kc8WCNw&index=30)

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