THE DEFINITE INTEGRAL AND AREAS UNDER THE CURVE

Our goal in this section is to show how the area under a curve can be expressed as a limit of a sum
of terms called a definite integral. We will then introduce a result called the fundamental theorem of
calculus that allows us to compute definite integrals and thus find area and other quantities using the
antidifferentiation methods of the previous section.

Consider the area of the region R under the curve y = f (x) over an
interval a  x  b , where f ( x)  0 and f is continuous, as illustrated in the
figure. To find the area, we proceed by subdividing the region into a number of R
rectangular regions, and then approximate the area A under the curve y = f (x)
by adding the areas of the approximating rectangles.

Begin the approximation by dividing the interval

a  x  b into n equal subintervals, each of length
x = b−na , and let x j denote the left endpoint of the jth
subinterval, for j = 1, 2, …, n. Then draw n rectangles
such that the jth rectangle has the jth subinterval as its
base and f ( x j ) as its height. Thus the area of the jth
rectangle is f ( x j ) x and the approximating area S n
for A is given by
Sn = f ( x1 )x + f ( x2 )x + ... + f ( xn )x = [ f ( x1 ) + f ( x2 ) + ... + f ( xn )]x .

As the number of subintervals n

increases, the approximating sum S n gets closer
and closer to what we intuitively think of as the
area under the curve, as illustrated here.
Therefore, it is reasonable to define the actual
area A as the limit of the sums:

Let f (x) be continuous and satisfy f ( x)  0 on the interval a  x  b . Then the region
under the curve y = f (x) over the interval a  x  b has area
A = lim[ f ( x1 ) + f ( x2 ) + ... + f ( xn )]x
n→

where x j is the left endpoint of the jth subinterval if the interval a  x  b is divided into
n equal parts, each of length x = b−a
n . The sum [ f ( x1 ) + f ( x2 ) + ... + f ( xn )]x is called
a Riemann sum.

The area is just one of many quantities that can be expressed as the limit of a sum. To handle all
such cases, including those for which f ( x)  0 is not required and left endpoints are not used, we require
the terminology and notation introduced in the following definition:
b
The definite integral of f on the interval a  x  b , denoted by a
f ( x)dx , is the limit of
the Riemann sum as n →  ; that is,
b

a
f ( x)dx = lim[ f ( x1 ) + f ( x2 ) + ... + f ( xn )]x .
n→

The function f (x) is called the integrand, and the numbers a and b are called the lower
and upper limits of integration, respectively. The process of finding a definite integral
is called definite integration.

Thus if f (x) is continuous and f ( x)  0 on the interval a  x  b , then the area of the region R
under the curve y = f (x) over the interval a  x  b is given by A =  f ( x)dx . To evaluate a definite
b

a
integral without computing the limit of a sum, we use the following result called the Fundamental
Theorem of Calculus:
b
If f (x) is continuous on the interval a  x  b , then 
a
f ( x)dx = F (b) − F (a) where
F (x) is any antiderivative of f (x) on a  x  b .

We use the notation F ( x) a = F (b) − F (a ) . The following results can be used to simplify the
b

computation of definite integrals: Let f and g be any functions continuous on a  x  b . Then

b b
 kf ( x)dx = k  f ( x)dx for any constant k
a a

 [ f ( x)  g ( x)]dx =  f ( x)dx   g ( x)dx

b b b

a a a
a
 f ( x)dx = 0
a

 f ( x)dx = − f ( x)dx
a b

b a

Subdivision rule:  f ( x)dx =  f ( x)dx − 

b c b
f ( x)dx
a a c

In the case where f ( x)  0 on the interval a  x  b , the subdivision rule can be interpreted geometrically
in the following manner:

EXERCISES: Evaluate the following definite integrals.

 (3x − 7)(x − 3) dx
2 2
 x 4 dx x2
2
1.
1
4.
1 7. 1 ( x3 + 1)2 dx
1

9

−3
2. ( y 3 − y 2 ) dy 5. x 2 dx 1 6t
0 4 8.  2 dt
0 t +1


0
(2 x + 6) 4 dx
1
 (x + 3x 3 + 1) dx
4
3. 6.
0 −3
Applications of the Definite Integral

Net Change in 𝑸(𝒙)

In certain applications, we are given the rate of change Q' ( x) of a quantity Q(x) and required to
compute the net change Q(b) − Q(a) in Q(x) as x varies from x = a to x = b . Since Q(x) is an
antiderivative of Q' ( x) , we can compute the net change using the fundamental theorem of calculus:

If Q' ( x) is continuous on the interval a  x  b , then the net change in Q(x) as x varies
from x = a to x = b is given by
b
Q(b) − Q(a) =  Q' ( x)dx .
a

Of course the definite integral is also used to find the area under the curve y = f (x) above the x-
axis over the interval a  x  b , as discussed previously.

Average Value of a Function on a Closed Interval [𝒂, 𝒃]

1 𝑏
The average value of 𝑓 on [𝑎, 𝑏] is 𝑏−𝑎 ∫𝑎 𝑓 (𝑥)𝑑𝑥.

EXERCISES:
1. Find the area of the region bounded by the curve y = 4 − x 2 and the x-axis.
2. Find the area of the region bounded by the curve y = x 2 − 2 x + 3 , the x-axis, and the lines x = −2
and x = 1 .
3. Find the area of the region bounded by the curve y = x3 − 2 x 2 − 5x + 6 above the x-axis.
6
4. Let the graph of 𝑓 between 𝑥 = 1 and 𝑥 = 6 be as shown in the figure below. Evaluate ∫1 𝑓 (𝑥)𝑑𝑥 .

𝑘 1
5. If 𝑛 is a known positive integer, for what value of 𝑘 is ∫1 𝑥 𝑛−1 𝑑𝑥 = 𝑛?
𝑘
6. If ∫0 (2𝑘𝑥 − 𝑥 2 )𝑑𝑥 = 18, find 𝑘.
7. What is the average value of 3𝑡 3 − 𝑡 2 over the interval −1 ≤ 𝑡 ≤ 2?