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The Definite Integral

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    219439
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    The Definite Integral

    The Monte Carlo Method For Finding Area

    Activity

    Pick four number from one to 100.  Instead of cutting the interval [0,100] into five equal intervals, you can instead cut the interval at the four numbers that you chose and construct five rectangles as before.  We will approximate the area of the curve under the curve y =\(\sqrt{x}\)  from 1 to 100 to estimate the area. 
     


    The Definite Integral

     

    Definition

    Let 

              a  =  x0,  x1,  ..., xn  =  b 

    be a partition of [a,b] and let    

              xi-1  <   ci  <   xi  

    then
              \(\sum_{i=1}^n f(c_i)\Delta x_i \)

    is called a Reimann Sum, and the limit as the maximum \(\Delta\)xi  approaches 0 is called the definite integral.  

     


    Note:  f(x) can be negative

    Usually to compute a definite integral, we use left or right sums.

     


     

    Special Cases



     


    \(\int_{a}^{a} f(x)dx = 0 \)

    \(\int_{a}^{c} f(x)dx = \int_{a}^{b} f(x)dx + \int_{b}^{c} f(x)dx  \)
     

    \(\int_{b}^{a} f(x)dx = -\int_{a}^{b} f(x)dx   \)
      

     

    Example:

    \(\int_{-2}^{3} |x| dx = \int_{-2}^{0} -x dx + \int_{0}^{3} x dx  \)

     



     

    Back to Antidifferentiation Page

     

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