Engineering Mathematics III (ENGD2114D)

Line Integrals

PRESENTER: DR. MUHAMMAD WAJID

SALEEM
MUHAMMAD.SALEEM@DMU.AC.UK

PREPARED BY: DR RICHARD SNAPE

DR. AIMAN ELRAGIG
DMU LEICESTER, UK
Definition:
Line integral is similar to a single integral except that instead of integrating over an interval
[a, b] , we integrate over a curve C.
More generally we can integrate a function
For a single integral of over a line segment over an arc C
[a,b,]

Area under the curve and the -axis

Area under along .
and over the line segment [a,b]
The idea:
Consider a function and a curve in the a plane
The line integral of f on C is given by
𝑛
lim ∑ 𝑓 ( 𝑥 ∗𝑖 , 𝑦 ∗𝑖 ) ∆ 𝑠 :=¿¿
𝑖
𝑛→ ∞ 𝑖=1

if , C f (x, y) ds can be interpreted as the area of the one sided blue

“fence” in the figure.
Similarly , for a function
How to tackle line integrals
 Consider the line integral
∫ 𝑓 (𝑥 , 𝑦)𝑑𝑠
𝐶 ds
𝑑𝑦 C
 Using Pythagoras's theorem we have
dx

𝑑𝑠 =√ ( 𝑑𝑥) +( 𝑑𝑦 )
2 2 2 2 2
(𝑑𝑠 ) =(𝑑𝑥 ) +(𝑑𝑦 )
 This leads to

√( ) 𝑑𝑦 2
∫ 𝑓 (𝑥 , 𝑦)𝑑𝑠=∫ 𝑓 (𝑥, 𝑦) 1+ 𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝑥
𝐶 𝐶

√( )𝑑𝑥 2
∫ 𝑓 (𝑥 , 𝑦)𝑑𝑠=∫ 𝑓 (𝑥, 𝑦) 𝑑𝑦 +1 𝑑𝑦
𝐶 𝐶
 Special cases:
 If lies in the plane ( set , we have

∫ 𝑓 (𝑥 , 𝑦)𝑑 𝑥
𝐶

 If lies in the plane ( set , we have

∫ 𝑓 (𝑥 , 𝑦)𝑑 𝑦
𝐶
 Example:
Evaluate Where is the curve , starting from and ending at

Solution: along

√ ( )
2
𝑑𝑦 ¿ √ 1+4 𝑥 𝑑𝑥
𝑑𝑥 ¿ √ 1+(2 𝑥) 𝑑𝑥
2 2
𝑑𝑠= 1+
𝑑𝑥
1 1 3

∫ 𝑥 (1+ 4 𝑦 ) 𝑑𝑠=∫ 𝑥(1+ 4 𝑥 2

) √ 1+ 4 𝑥 2
𝑑𝑥=∫ 𝑥 ( 1+ 4 𝑥 ) 𝑑𝑥 2 2

𝐶 0 0

[ ]
3 5 1
1 12
8𝐶
∫ 8 𝑥 ( 1+ 4 𝑥 ) 𝑑𝑥=
2 2
85
( 1+ 4 𝑥 ) 2 2
≈ 2.745
0
When and are parametrised with (say
if for and are parametrized by as follows
and ,

Then we can write:

𝑑𝑠 =√ ( 𝑑𝑥)2 +( 𝑑𝑦 )2 𝑑𝑠=
𝑑𝑡√(+ )( )
𝑑𝑥 2 𝑑 𝑦 2
𝑑𝑡
𝑑𝑡

√(
𝑏

)( )
2 2
𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝑦
∫ 𝑓 (𝑥 , 𝑦)𝑑𝑠=∫ 𝑓 (𝑥 ( 𝑡 ) , 𝑦 ( 𝑡 ) ) 𝑑𝑡 + 𝑑𝑡 𝑑 𝑡
𝐶 𝑎

The value of the line integral does not depend on the parametrization of the curve from a to b
Example

Evaluate , where is given as

and and

Solution:

√(
𝑏

Remember for parametrised , and we have

𝐶 𝑎
)( )
𝑑𝑥 2 𝑑 𝑦 2
∫ 𝑓 (𝑥 , 𝑦)𝑑𝑠=∫ 𝑓 (𝑥 ( 𝑡 ) , 𝑦 ( 𝑡 ) ) 𝑑𝑡 + 𝑑𝑡 𝑑 𝑡
Line Integrals in Space
Similarly for a 3 D function , the line integral along a curve is given as

∫ 𝑓 (𝑥 , 𝑦 ,𝑧)𝑑𝑠=𝑛→lim∞ ∑ 𝑓 ( 𝑥 ∗
𝑖 , 𝑦 ,𝑧 ) ∆ 𝑠
∗
𝑖
∗
𝑖 𝑖
𝐶 𝑖=1

If are parametrised with and . In this case is given as

√( )( )( )
2 2 2
𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝑦 𝑑𝑧
𝑑𝑠= + + 𝑑𝑡
𝑑𝑡 𝑑𝑡 𝑑𝑡

√(
𝑏

)( )( )
2 2 2
𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝑦 𝑑𝑧
∫ 𝑓 (𝑥 , 𝑦 , 𝑧)𝑑𝑠=∫ 𝑓 (𝑥 ( 𝑡 ) , 𝑦 ( 𝑡 ) , 𝑧(𝑡)) 𝑑𝑡 + 𝑑𝑡 + 𝑑𝑡 𝑑𝑡
𝐶 𝑎
Example:
Evaluate , where is the circular helix given by :
,,,
Solution:
From the Formula

√(
𝑏

)( )( )
𝑑𝑥 2 𝑑𝑦 2 𝑑𝑧 2
∫ 𝑓 (𝑥 , 𝑦 ,𝑧)𝑑𝑠=∫ 𝑓 (𝑥 ( 𝑡 ) , 𝑦 ( 𝑡 ) , 𝑧(𝑡)) 𝑑𝑡 + 𝑑𝑡 + 𝑑𝑡 𝑑𝑡
𝐶 𝑎
We can write
 Physical application of Line Integrals
 Any physical interpretation of a line integral C f (x, y) ds depends on the physical interpretation of the
function f.
 Suppose that represents the density per unit length of the curve
C.

 If we divide the wire into small sections of length and index them all
then

 For each -th position on the wire with co-ordinates the mass of
the small section is

 The total mass of the wire is approximately

 By taking more and more points on the curve, we obtain the total mass
of the wire as the limiting value of these approximations:
𝑛
𝑚= lim ∑ 𝜌 ( 𝑥 ∗𝑖 , 𝑦 ∗𝑖 ) Δ s i=∫ 𝜌 ( 𝑥, 𝑦 ) 𝑑𝑠
𝑛→ ∞ 𝑖=1 𝑐
 The center of mass of the wire with density function is located at the point , where
Line Integrals of Vector Fields

 Recall that the work done by a variable force in moving a 𝑓 (𝑥) 𝑓 (𝑥)
particle from to along the -axis as shown
𝑏 𝑎 𝑏
𝑊 =∫ 𝑓 ( 𝑥 ) 𝑑𝑥
𝑎

 If is constant : , then the work becomes

 Now assume that

is a force filed (i.e. a vector field).

 What is the work done by this force to move a particle along a smooth
curve ?
 Suppose that the vector field

represents a force throughout a region in space (it might be the force of gravity or an
electromagnetic force of some kind)

 Assume that
,
is a smooth curve in the region.

Then, the work done by the force over the curve from , is defined by a line integral

𝑏 𝑏
𝑑𝑟
𝑊 =∫ 𝐹 . 𝑑 𝑟 =∫ 𝐹 . 𝑑𝑡
𝑎 𝑎 𝑑𝑡
Steps to evaluate a work done by a a force vector filed :
To evaluate 𝑏 𝑏
𝑑𝑟
𝑊 =∫ 𝐹 . 𝑑 𝑟 =∫ 𝐹 . 𝑑𝑡
𝑎 𝑎 𝑑𝑡

1. evaluate on the curve as a function of

2. find
3. dot product with
4. integrate from to
Example:
Find the work done by the force

over the curve C as shown

,

Solution:
Step 1: Evaluate F on the curve:

𝐹 =( 𝑦 − 𝑥 ) 𝒊+ ( 𝑧 − 𝑦 ) 𝒋+ ( 𝑥 − 𝑧 ) 𝒌 -
2 2 2

¿(𝑡 ¿ ¿ 3 −𝑡 4 ) 𝑗+(𝑡 −𝑡 6)𝑘¿

Step 2: Find:

𝑑𝑟 𝑑
= ( 𝑡𝑖+𝑡 2 𝑗+𝑡 3 𝑘 )=1 𝑖+2𝑡𝑗 +3 𝑡 2 𝑘
𝑑𝑡 𝑑𝑡
Step 3: Dot product with

.
¿((𝑡 ¿ ¿ 3 −𝑡 4 )(2 𝑡)+𝑡 − 𝑡 6 )(3 𝑡 2)¿
¿ 2 𝑡 4 − 2𝑡 5+ 3 𝑡 3 −3 𝑡 8
Step 4: Integrate from to

[ ]
1 5 6 4 9 1
𝑡 𝑡 𝑡 𝑡 29
𝑊 =∫ 2 𝑡 − 2𝑡 + 3 𝑡 −3 𝑡 𝑑𝑡 = 2 − 2 +3 −3
4 5 3 8
=
0 5 6 4 9 0 60
line integrals of vector fields vs line integrals of scalar fields
Suppose the vector field F is given in component form by the equation Remember:
,

The work done by along

𝑏
𝑑𝑟
∫𝐹 . 𝑑𝑡
𝑑𝑡=¿ .
𝑎

]
𝑏
¿∫ 𝑃 𝑑𝑥 +𝑄𝑑𝑦 + 𝑅𝑑𝑧
𝑎

Therefor the work done by a vector filed can be expressed as a line integral of a scalar filed
 Seminar
Questions

Try questions 1-21 in pages 61, 61

Lecture Notes
Approach:
 We divide into subarcs , with lengths by dividing the parameter interval into
subintervals of equal width

 The figure illustrates the three dimensional case

 Intuitively, we see that these approximations ought to become better as n

becomes larger.

Therefore we define the work W done by the force field F as the limit of the sums,
namely,
𝑏 𝑏
𝑊 =∫ 𝑭 ( 𝑥 , 𝑦 , 𝑧 ) . 𝑻 ( 𝑥 , 𝑦 , 𝑧 ) 𝑑𝑠=∫ 𝑭 . 𝑻 𝑑𝑠  
𝑎 𝑎

Equation above represents the work done by the tangential component of along the
arc C
How to find ?
If the curve is given by the vector equation
𝒓 (𝑡)=𝑥 (𝑡) 𝒊+ 𝑦 (𝑡 ) 𝒋 + 𝑧(𝑡)𝒌

Then we have 𝒓 ′(𝑡)=𝑥 ′ (𝑡)𝒊+ 𝑦 ′(𝑡) 𝒋 +𝑧 ′(𝑡)𝒌

Then

so using Equation 9 we can rewrite Equation on

previous slide in the form
Special cases:
Special cases:
• W.r.t. y
• W.r.t x