Integration as the 

limit of a sum 15.1

Introduction
In Chapter 14, integration was introduced as the reverse of dierentiation. A more rigorous
treatment would show that integration is a process of adding or summation. By viewing
integration from this perspective it is possible to apply the techniques of integration to nding
areas, volumes, centres of gravity and many other important quantities.
The content of this block is important because it is here that integration is dened properly.
A thorough understanding of the process involved is essential if you need to apply integration
techniques to practical problems.

Prerequisites be able to calculate denite integrals

Before starting this Block you should . . .

Learning Outcomes Learning Style

After completing this Block you should be able To achieve what is expected of you . . .
to . . .
explain integration as the limit of a sum
allocate sucient study time
evaluate the limit of a sum in simple cases

briey revise the prerequisite material

attempt every guided exercise and most

of the other exercises
1. The limit of a sum
y
area required

y(x)

a b x

Figure 1. The area under a curve

Consider the graph of the positive function y(x) shown in Figure 1. Suppose we are interested
in nding the area under the graph between x = a and x = b. One way in which this area
can be approximated is to divide it into a number of rectangles, nd the area of each rectangle,
and then add up all these individual rectangular areas. This is illustrated in Figure 2a, which
shows the area divided into n rectangles, and Figure 2b which shows the dimensions of a typical
rectangle which is located at x = xk .

y y

y(x) y(x)
x
n rectangles y(xk )

a b x xk x
(a) (b)

Figure 2. a) The area approximated by n rectangles. b) A typical rectangle.

Try each part of this exercise

Part (a) Firstly, refer to Figure 2a and state the distance from a to b:
Answer

Part (b) In Figure 2a) the area has been divided into n rectangles. If n rectangles span the
distance from a to b state the width of each rectangle:
Answer

Part (c) It is conventional to label the width of each rectangle as x, i.e. x = ba n

. Suppose
we label the x coordinates at the left hand side of the rectangles as x1 , x2 up to xn (here x1 = a
and xn+1 = b). A typical rectangle, the kth rectangle, is shown in Figure 2b). Note that its
height is y(xk ). Calculate its area:
Answer

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The sum of the areas of all n rectangles is then
y(x1 )x + y(x2 )x + y(x3 )x + + y(xn )x
which we write concisely using sigma notation as

n
y(xk )x
k=1

This quantity gives us an estimate of the area under the curve but it is not exact. To improve
the estimate we must take a large number of very thin rectangles. So, what we want to nd is
the value of this sum when n tends to innity and x tends to zero. We write this value as

n
lim y(xk )x
n
k=1

The lower and upper limits on the sum correspond to the rst and last rectangle where x = a
and x = b respectively and so we can write this limit in the equivalent form

x=b
lim y(x)x (1)
x0
x=a

Here, as the number of rectangles increase without bound we drop the subscript k from xk and
write y(x) which is the value of y at a typical value of x. If this sum can actually be found,
b
it is called the denite integral of y(x), from x = a to x = b and it is written a y(x)dx. You
are already familiar with the technique for evaluating denite integrals which was studied in
Chapter 14, Block 2.
Therefore we have the following denition:

Key Point
 b 
x=b
The denite integral y(x)dx is dened as lim y(x)x
a x0
x=a

Note that the quantity x represents the thickness of a small but nite rectangle. When we
have taken the limit as x tends to zero to obtain the integral, we write dx.
This process of dividing an area into very small regions, performing a calculation on each region,
and then adding the results by means of an integral is very important. This will become apparent
when nding volumes, centres of gravity, moments of inertia etc in the following blocks where
similar procedures are followed.

Example The area under the graph of y = x2 between x = 0 and x = 1 is to be found

using the technique just described. If the required area is approximated by a
large number of thin rectangles, the limit of the sum of their areas is given
from Equation 1 as

x=1
lim y(x) x
x0
x=0

Write down the integral which this sum denes and evaluate it to obtain the
area under the curve.

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Solution
1
The limit of the sum denes the integral 0 y(x)dx. Here y = x2 and so
 1  1
2 x3 1
x dx = =
0 3 0 3

To show that the process of taking the limit of a sum actually works we discuss the problem in
detail.

Example Use the idea of the limit of a sum to nd the area under the graph of y = x2
between x = 0 and x = 1.

Solution

y
1

y = x2

n rectangles

0 1 x
Figure 3. The area under y = x2 is approximated by a number of thin rectangles.

Try each part of this exercise

Refer to the graph in Figure 3 to help you answer the questions.

Part (a) If the interval between x = 0 and x = 1 is divided into n rectangles what is the width
of each rectangle ?
Answer

Part (b) What is the x coordinate at the left-hand side of the rst rectangle ?
Answer

Part (c) What is the x coordinate at the left-hand side of the second rectangle ?
Answer

Part (d) What is the x coordinate at the left-hand side of the third rectangle?
Answer

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15.1: Applications of Integration
Part (e) What is the x coordinate at the left-hand side of the kth rectangle?
Answer

Part (f) Given that y = x2 , what is the y coordinate at the left-hand side of the kth rectangle?
Answer

Part (g) The area of the kth rectangle is its height its width. Write down the area of the
kth rectangle:
Answer
To nd the total area An of the n rectangles we must add up all these individual rectangular
areas:
n
(k 1)2
An =
k=1
n3

This sum can be simplied and then calculated as follows. You will need to make use of the
formulas for the sum of the rst k integers, and the sum of the squares of the rst k integers:


n 
n
1 
n
1
1 = n, k = n(n + 1), k 2 = n(n + 1)(2n + 1)
k=1 k=1
2 k=1
6

Then, the total area of the rectangles is given by


n
(k 1)2 1 
n
An = = (k 1)2
k=1
n3 n3 k=1
1  2
n
= (k 2k + 1)
n3 k=1
 n 
1  2  
n n
= k 2 k+ 1
n3 k=1 k=1 k=1
1 n n

= (n + 1)(2n + 1) 2 (n + 1) + n
n3  6 2 
1 (n + 1)(2n + 1)
= (n + 1) + 1
n2 6
 
1 (n + 1)(2n + 1)
= n
n2 6
 
1 (n + 1)(2n + 1) 6n
=
n2 6 6
1 2 
= 2
2n 3n + 1
6n
1 1 1
= + 2
3 2n 6n
Note that this is a formula for the total area of the n rectangles. It is an estimate of the area
1
under the graph of y = x2 . Now, as n gets larger, the terms 2n and 6n1 2 become small and will
eventually tend to zero.

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15.1: Applications of Integration
Part (h) Let n tend to innity to obtain the exact answer:
Answer
The required area is 13 .
The area has been found as the limit of a sum and of course agrees with that calculated by
integration.
In the calculations which follow in subsequent blocks the need to evaluate complicated limits like
this is avoided by performing the integration using the techniques of Chapter 14. Nevertheless
it will still be necessary to go through the process of dividing a region into small sections,
performing a calculation on each section and then adding the results, in order to formulate the
integral required.

More exercises for you to try

There are deliberately few exercises in this Block because in practice integrals are evalu-
ated using the techniques of Chapter 14 and not by taking explicit limits of sums. What
is important though is an understanding of how the appropriate sum is formed.

1. Find the area under y = x + 1 from x = 0 to x = 10 using the limit of a sum.

2. Find the area under y = 3x2 from x = 0 to x = 2 using the limit of a sum.

3. Write down, but do not evaluate, the integral dened by the limit as x 0, or
t 0 of the following sums:

x=1 
x=4 
t=1 
x=1
3 2 3
(a) x x, (b) 4x x, (c) t t, (d) 6mx2 x.
x=0 x=0 t=0 x=0
Answer

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 End of Block 15.1

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ba

Back to the theory

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15.1: Applications of Integration
ba
n

Back to the theory

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15.1: Applications of Integration
y(xk ) x

Back to the theory

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15.1: Applications of Integration
1
n

Back to the theory

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0

Back to the theory

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15.1: Applications of Integration
1
n

Back to the theory

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15.1: Applications of Integration
2
n

Back to the theory

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15.1: Applications of Integration
k1
n

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15.1: Applications of Integration
 k1 2
n

Back to the theory

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15.1: Applications of Integration
 k1 2 (k1)2
n
1
n
= n3

Back to the theory

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15.1: Applications of Integration
1
3

Back to the theory

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15.1: Applications of Integration
 1 4 1 1
1. 60. 2. 8. 3(a) 0
x3 dx. (b) 4 0
x2 dx, (c) 0
t3 dt, (d) 0
6mx2 dx.

Back to the theory

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15.1: Applications of Integration