1.2 KiB
1.2 KiB
Formal Definition
Let f
be a continuous function on an interval [a, b]
.
Divide [a, b]
into n
equal parts of width \Delta x = \dfrac{b-a}{n}
.
Let x_0, x_1, x_2, \cdots, x_n
be the endpoints of this subdivision. x_0 = a
and x_n = b
.
Define \int_a^b f(x) dx = \lim_{n \to \infty} \sum_{i=1}^nf(x_i)\Delta x
\Delta x
refers to the width of each sub-interval, or\frac{b-a}{n}
.f(x_i)
refers to the height of each subinterval, and can be found with the equationx_i = \Delta xi + a
- Or, the width of each interval times the interval index, plus the starting offset.
Then let f
be a continous function on [a, b]
and let F
be the antiderivative of f
(i.e F'(x) = f(x)
).
Then \int_a^b f(x) dx = F(b) - F(a)
.
Sum of an infinite series
The sum of an infinite series can be defined as follows:
\sum_{i = 1}^n i = \frac{n(n+1)}{2}
Examples
- Find the area under the curve between 0 and 1 of the function
f(x) = x^2
\int_0^1 x^2 dx = \frac{1}{3} x^3 \Big |_0^1 = 1/3(1^3)- 1/3 (0)^3 = 1/3
- Find the Riemann Sum under the curve between -2 and 2 of the function
2x + 2
.
\int_{-2}^2 (2x + 2)dx = \lim_{n \to \infty} \sum_{i = 1}^nf(x_i)\Delta x