Chapter 8

Applications of Denite Integrals I: General Arguments

Here we look at many further quantities which give rise to antidierentiation. Most modern calculus textbooks contain numerous excellent examples of applications of denite integrals. Indeed, most examples which are likely to be seen in further studies of the physical sciences can trace back to calculus textbook-type problems. Here we will make an attempt to accomplish the presentations of the usual topics, and others. We will also do the following: 1. Re-introduce the notion of innitesimals into the physical analysis of these problems. This was a traditional approach which has fallen out of favor. While we will refer back to the Riemann sums for each case, that will be more for a spot-check of the reasoning behind the innitesimals, and perhaps some proofs. However, the rst introduction to most topics will be through innitesimals. Besides, they make for prettier pictures! Students are unlikely to be inspired by the Riemann sum proofs, which are often used to show that the quantity represented by the integral has the integrand as derivative. The proofs are technical, and leave a student to believe he would never come up with it himself. The dierentials cut to the chase, and can be proved later after guessed, rather than derived from Riemann sums. 2. Finite Riemann sums used for numerical approximations of the quantities involved. This contains all the intuition (short of the proofs) contained in the most textbook developments of these integrals. 3. Explanations of why some guesses for the innitesimals will not work. 4. Explanation of how to tellby sightif a particular dierential is correct, and whether the Riemann sum form will actually converge to the desired quantity as the partition is rened.

8.1

Riemann Sums and Approximations of Cumulative Quantities

Suppose we had some data on the velocity of an object, and we wish to approximate its net displacement over a time interval. Suppose the data we have is the following: 667

668CHAPTER 8. APPLICATIONS OF DEFINITE INTEGRALS I: GENERAL ARGUMENTS

8.2

Other Complications

Consider cases where the function is only piecewise continuous, and try to recover a continuous antiderivative. Consider, perhaps, some cases from electricity and magenetism regarding elds or potentials across interfaces. Consider two antiderivatives of f (x) = 1, 1, x > 0, x < 0.

One is continuous, the other not. Can always recover a continuous antiderivative from a piecewise continuous function, so long as we dont have vertical asymptotes, for instance.

8.3 8.4

Approximation Methods for Denite Integrals Physical Applications of Denite Integrals

b n

Recall that anytime we have a continuous function f (x) on a closed interval [a, b], the denite integral f (x) dx =
a

lim max{xi } 0 (n )

f (x i ) xi
i=1

= F (b) F (a),

(8.1)

where F (x) is continuous on [a, b], and F (x) = f (x) on (a, b). The rst of the two equations above is the denition of the antiderivative, and the other is the Fundamental Theorem of Calculus. While the above is eventually intuitive when one considers the context of the signed area problemwith the percentage error in each nonzero areas approximating rectangle shrinking to zero as max{xi } 0 (and therefore n )there are other problems which become equally intuitive but for dierent contexts. Indeed anytime a quantity can be better and better approximated by Riemann sums, in such a way that the percentage error of each step decreases to zero as the size of that step does as well, we can argue that the quantity in question should be the limit of the Riemann sumsas the maximum interval length approaches zeroand therefore can be represented by the denite integral, which we can compute with the Fundamental Theorem of Calculus. In other words, if we must accept the rst equality below, we must accept the second:
b

desired quantity =

max{xi }0

lim

q (x i ) xi
i=1

=
a

q (x) dx.

(8.2)

This in turn will then equal Q(b) Q(a), where Q = q . There are countless examples where the integral calculus lets us compute such desired quantities in this way. The signed area between a curve and the x-axis is one example, as are other geometric examples, but those are only the beginning.

8.4.1

Geometric Applications

Some of the simplest examples come from geometry.

8.4. PHYSICAL APPLICATIONS OF DEFINITE INTEGRALS

669

Example 8.4.1 It was known in ancient times that one could take any circle, divide the circumference by the diameter, and always get the same number which, of course, we know today as 3.14159265. We usually write the circumference formula using the radius instead of the diameter, writing for instance s = 2r. From this we can use an integration argument to nd a formula for the area of a circle. We do this by setting up an approximating Riemann sum. In this computation, we will let r be the radius of the circle, but we will break up the total area into areas of concentric rings with outer and inner radii, such that the ith ring will have inner radius i1 and outer radius i , with i = 1, 2, , n.1
2

i 2i1 2i

-1

-2

Ai 2 i i i i [i1 , i ]

-3

0 i1 i
1

r
0 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

-4 -2 -1

1 It is customary to substitute the Greek version of a letter for the Latin version in cases such as this. We cannot use r for a variable radius when we are simultaneously using r for the radius of the circle, so we instead use for the variable radius. Using the Greek version respects the similarities in the quantities while noting that they are dierent. The Greek version is often used as well to signify a temporary variable introduced into a computation but not present in the nal answer.