INTEGRALS
Equation 1
We saw in Section 5.1 that a limit of the form
n
lim  f ( xi *)x
n 
i 1
 lim[ f ( x1*)x  f ( x2 *)x  ...  f ( xn *)x]
n 
arises when we compute an area.
 We also saw that it arises when we try to find the distance
traveled by an object.
INTEGRALS
It turns out that this same type of limit occurs in a
wide variety of situations even when f is not
necessarily a positive function.
INTEGRALS
5.2
The Definite Integral
In this section, we will learn about:
Integrals with limits that represent
a definite quantity.
DEFINITE INTEGRAL
Definition 2
If f is a function defined for a ≤ x ≤ b, we divide
the interval [a, b] into n subintervals of equal
width ∆x = (b – a)/n.
 We let x0(= a), x1, x2, …, xn(= b) be the endpoints of these
subintervals.
 We let x1*, x2*,…., xn* be any sample points in these
subintervals, so xi* lies in the i th subinterval.
DEFINITE INTEGRAL
Definition 2
Then, the definite integral of f from a to b is the
number denoted by the symbol

b
a
f ( x) dx and
defined by

b
a
n
f ( x) dx  lim  f ( xi *)x
n 
i 1
provided that this limit exists.
If it does exist, we say f is integrable on [a, b].
DEFINITE INTEGRAL
The precise meaning of the limit that defines the
integral is as follows:
 For every number ε > 0 there is an integer N such that

b
a
n
f ( x)dx   f ( xi *)x  
i 1
for every integer n > N and for every choice of xi* in
[xi-1, xi].
INTEGRAL SIGN
Note 1
The symbol ∫ was introduced by Leibniz and is
called an integral sign.
 It is an elongated S.
 It was chosen because an integral is a limit of sums.
NOTATION
In the notation
Note 1

b
a
f ( x) dx ,
 f(x) is called the integrand.
 a and b are called the limits of integration; a is the lower limit
and b is the upper limit.
 For now, the symbol dx has no meaning by itself; is all one
symbol. The dx simply indicates that the independent variable
is x.
DEFINITE INTEGRAL
Note 2
The procedure of calculating an integral is called
integration.
The definite integral

b
a
f ( x)dx is a number. It does
not depend on x. In fact, we could use any letter in
place of x without changing the value of the
integral:

b
a
b
b
a
a
f ( x)dx   f (t )dt   f (r )dr
RIEMANN SUM
The sum
Note 3
n
 f ( x *)x
i 1
i
that occurs in Definition 2 is called a Riemann
sum.
 It is named after the German mathematician Bernhard
Riemann (1826–1866).
RIEMANN SUM
Note 3
So, Definition 2 says that the definite integral of an
integrable function can be approximated to within
any desired degree of accuracy by a Riemann sum.
RIEMANN SUM
Note 3
We know that, if f happens to be positive, the
Riemann sum can be interpreted as:
 A sum of areas of approximating rectangles
RIEMANN SUM
Note 3
Comparing Definition 2 with the definition of area
in Section 5.1, we see that the definite integral

b
a
f ( x) dx can be interpreted as:
 The area under the curve y = f (x) from a to b
RIEMANN SUM
Note 3
If f takes on both positive and negative values,
then the Riemann sum is:
 The sum of the areas of the rectangles that lie above the x-axis and the
negatives of the areas of the rectangles that lie below the x-axis
 That is, the areas of
the gold rectangles
minus the areas of
the blue rectangles
NET AREA
Note 3
A definite integral can be interpreted as a net area,
that is, a difference of areas:

b
a
f ( x) dx  A1  A2
 A1 is the area of the region above the x-axis and below the graph of f.
 A2 is the area of
the region below
the x-axis and
above the graph
of f.
INTEGRABLE FUNCTIONS
Note 5
We have defined the definite integral for an
integrable function.
However, not all functions are integrable. The
following theorem shows that the most commonly
occurring functions are, in fact, integrable.
 It is proved in more advanced courses.
INTEGRABLE FUNCTIONS
Theorem 3
If f is continuous on [a, b], or if f has only a finite
number of jump discontinuities, then f is integrable
on [a, b].
That is, the definite integral

b
a
f ( x) dx exists.
INTEGRABLE FUNCTIONS
If f is integrable on [a, b], then the limit in
Definition 2 exists and gives the same value, no
matter how we choose the sample points xi*.
To simplify the calculation of the integral, we often
take the sample points to be right endpoints.
 Then, xi* = xi and the definition of an integral simplifies
as follows.
INTEGRABLE FUNCTIONS
Theorem 4
If f is integrable on [a, b], then

b
a
n
f ( x) dx  lim  f ( xi ) x
ni 
i 1
ba
where x 
and xi  a  i x
n
DEFINITE INTEGRAL
Example 1
Express
n
lim  ( xi  xi sin xi ) x
3
n 
i 1
as an integral on the interval [0, π].
 Comparing the given limit with the limit in Theorem 4,
we see that they will be identical if we choose
f(x) = x3 + x sin x.
DEFINITE INTEGRAL
Example 1
We are given that a = 0 and b = π.
So, by Theorem 4, we have:
n

lim  ( xi  xi sin xi ) x   ( x  x sin x) dx
3
n 
i 1
0
3
DEFINITE INTEGRAL
Later, when we apply the definite integral to
physical situations, it will be very important to
recognize limits of sums as integrals, as we did in
Example 1.
When Leibniz chose the notation for an integral,
he chose the ingredients as reminders of the
limiting process.
DEFINITE INTEGRAL
In general, when we write
n
b
i 1
a
lim  f ( xi *) x   f ( x) dx
n 
we replace:
 lim Σ by ∫
 xi* by x
 ∆x by dx
EVALUATING INTEGRALS
When we use a limit to evaluate a definite integral,
we need to know how to work with sums. For
instance we need expressions such as
n( n  1)
i

2
i 1
n
n
n
i
i 1
3
 n(n  1) 


2


i
i 1
2
2
n(n  1)(2n  1)

6
EVALUATING INTEGRALS
However, in Calculus II we will make use of the
Fundamental Theorem of Calculus (section 5.3) to
evaluate definite integrals.
This means that here, definite integrals will not be
computed by using limits of Riemann sums. But we
will still use the definition and a specific Riemann
sum to get an estimate of a definite integral in a
particular case.
EVALUATING INTEGRALS
Estimate the value of

3
0
Example 2
( x  6 x) dx using a
3
Riemann sum for f (x) = x3 – 6x taking the sample
points to be the right endpoints of the partition and
n = 6 subintervals.
EVALUATING INTEGRALS
Example 2a
With n = 6,
b  a 30 1
 The interval width is: x 


n
6
2
 The right endpoints are:
x1 = 0.5, x2 = 1.0, x3 = 1.5,
x4 = 2.0, x5 = 2.5, x6 = 3.0
EVALUATING INTEGRALS
Example 2a
So, the Riemann sum is:
6
R6   f ( xi ) x
i 1
 f (0.5) x  f (1.0) x  f (1.5) x
 f (2.0) x  f (2.5) x  f (3.0) x
 12 (2.875  5  5.625  4  0.625  9)
 3.9375
EVALUATING INTEGRALS
Example 2a
Notice that f is not a positive function.
So, the Riemann sum does not represent a sum of
areas of rectangles.
EVALUATING INTEGRALS
Example 2a
However, it does represent the sum of the areas of
the gold rectangles (above the x-axis) minus the sum
of the areas of the blue rectangles (below the x-axis).
EVALUATING INTEGRALS
Example 2b
This integral can not be interpreted as an area
because f takes on both positive and negative
values.
EVALUATING INTEGRALS
Example 2b
However, it can be interpreted as the difference
of areas A1 – A2, where A1 and A2 are as shown.
EVALUATING INTEGRALS
Example 2b
This figure illustrates the calculation by showing
the positive and negative terms in the right
Riemann sum Rn for n = 40.
EVALUATING INTEGRALS
Example 2b
The values in the table show the Riemann sums
approaching the exact value of the integral, – 6.75,
as n  .
EVALUATING INTEGRALS
A much simpler method for evaluating the integral
in Example 2 will be given in Section 5.3
EVALUATING INTEGRALS
a.Set up an expression for
sums.

3
1
Example 3
x
e dx as a limit of
b.Use a computer algebra system (CAS) to
evaluate the expression.
EVALUATING INTEGRALS
Example 3a
Here, we have f (x) = ex, a = 1, b = 3, and
ba 2
x 

n
n
So, x0 = 1, x1 = 1 + 2/n, x2 = 1 + 4/n, x3 = 1 + 6/n,
and, in general,
xi = 1 + 2i / n
EVALUATING INTEGRALS
Example 3a
From Theorem 4, we get:

3
1
n
e dx  lim  f ( xi ) x
x
n 
i 1
n
 lim 
n 
i 1
 2i  2
f 1  
n n

2 n 1 2i / n
 lim  e
n  n
i 1
EVALUATING INTEGRALS
Example 3b
If we ask a CAS to evaluate the sum and simplify,
we obtain:
n
e
i 1
1 2i / n

e
(3n  2) / n
( n  2) / n
e
2/ n
e 1
EVALUATING INTEGRALS
Example 3b
Now, we ask the CAS to evaluate the limit:

3
1
2 e
e dx  lim 
n  n
3
 e e
x
(3 n  2) / n
( n  2) / n
e
2/n
e 1
EVALUATING INTEGRALS
Example 3b
Again, we will learn a much easier method for the
evaluation of integrals in the next section.
EVALUATING INTEGRALS
Example 4
Evaluate the following integrals by interpreting
each in terms of areas.
a.

1

3
0
b.
0
2
1 x dx
( x  1) dx
EVALUATING INTEGRALS
Example 4a
Since f ( x)  1  x 2  0, we can interpret this
2
integral as the area under the curve y  1  x
from 0 to 1.
EVALUATING INTEGRALS
Example 4a
However, since y2 = 1 – x2, we get: x2 + y2 = 1
 This shows that
the graph of f is
the quarter-circle
with radius 1.
EVALUATING INTEGRALS
Example 4a
Therefore,

1
0
1  x dx   (1) 
2
1
4
2

4
 In Section 7.3, we will be able to prove that
the area of a circle of radius r is π r2.
EVALUATING INTEGRALS
Example 4b
The graph of y = x – 1
is the line with slope 1
shown here.
 We compute the integral
as the difference of the
areas of the two triangles:

3
0
( x  1)dx  A1  A2  12 (2  2)  12 (11)  1.5
MIDPOINT RULE
We often choose the sample point xi* to be the right
endpoint of the i th subinterval because it is
convenient for computing the limit.
However, if the purpose is to find an approximation
to an integral, it is usually better to choose xi* to be
the midpoint of the interval.
 We denote this by xi .
MIDPOINT RULE
Any Riemann sum is an approximation to an
integral.
However, if we use midpoints, we get the
following approximation.
THE MIDPOINT RULE

b
a
n
f ( x) dx   f ( x i ) x
i 1
 x  f ( x1 )  ...  f ( x n ) 
where
and
ba
x 
n
x i  12 ( xi 1  xi )  midpoint of  xi 1 , xi 
MIDPOINT RULE
Example 5
Use the Midpoint Rule with n = 5 to approximate

2
1
1
dx
x
 The endpoints of the five subintervals are:
1, 1.2, 1.4, 1.6, 1.8, 2.0
 So, the midpoints are: 1.1, 1.3, 1.5, 1.7, 1.9
MIDPOINT RULE
Example 5
The width of the subintervals is:
∆x = (2 - 1)/5 = 1/5
So, the Midpoint Rule gives:

2
1
1
dx  x  f (1.1)  f (1.3)  f (1.5)  f (1.7)  f (1.9) 
x
1 1
1
1
1
1 
 





5  1.1 1.3 1.5 1.7 1.9 
 0.691908
MIDPOINT RULE
As f (x) = 1/x for 1 ≤ x ≤ 2,
the integral represents an
area, and the approximation
given by the rule is the sum
of the areas of the rectangles
shown.
Example 5
MIDPOINT RULE
At the moment, we do not know how accurate the
approximation in Example 5 is.
 However, in Section 7.7, we will learn a method for
estimating the error involved in using the rule.
 At that time, we will discuss other methods for
approximating definite integrals.
PROPERTIES OF DEFINITE INTEGRAL
When we defined the definite integral

b
a
f ( x) dx
we implicitly assumed that a < b.
However, the definition as a limit of Riemann
sums makes sense even if a > b.
PROPERTIES OF DEFINITE INTEGRAL
Notice that, if we reverse a and b, then ∆x changes
from (b – a)/n to (a – b)/n.
Therefore,

a
b
b
f ( x) dx   f ( x) dx
a
If a = b, then ∆x = 0, and so

a
b
f ( x) dx  0
PROPERTIES OF DEFINITE INTEGRAL
We assume f and g are continuous functions.
b
1.  c dx  c(b  a ), where c is any constant
a
f ( x)  g ( x)  dx  

a
a
2. 
b
b
b
b
a
a
b
f ( x) dx   g ( x) dx
a
3.  c f ( x) dx  c  f ( x) dx, where c is any constant
f ( x)  g ( x)  dx  

a
a
4. 
b
b
b
f ( x) dx   g ( x) dx
a
PROPERTIES OF INTEGRALS
Properties 1–5 are true whether:
a < b
a = b
a > b
COMPARISON PROPERTIES OF THE INTEGRAL
These properties, that compare sizes of functions
and sizes of integrals, are true only if a ≤ b.
b
6. If f ( x)  0 for a  x  b, then  f ( x) dx  0
a
b
b
a
a
7. If f ( x)  g ( x) for a  x  b, then  f ( x) dx   g ( x) dx
8. If m  f ( x)  M for a  x  b, then
b
m(b  a)   f ( x) dx M (b  a )
a