Definite Integrals

A Definite Integral has start and end values: in other words there is an interval (a
to b).
The values are put at the bottom and top of the "S", like this:

Indefinite Integral (no specific values)

Definite Integral (from a to b)
At x=1: 2x dx = 12 + C
Example:

At x=2: 2x dx = 22 + C

The Definite Integral, from 1 to 2,

of 2x dx:

Subtract:
(22 + C) (12 + C)
22 + C 1 2 C
41+CC=3

2xdx

2 xdx 2 2 12 3

And "C" gets cancelled out ... so with

definite integrals we can ignore C.
The Indefinite Integral is: 2x dx =
x2 + C

We can check that, by calculating the

area of the shape:

Yes, it has an area of 3.

Example:

3x
5

4 x 1 dx

2x 2 x 1

2 5 5 1 21 1
125 50 5 1 2 1
180 4
176
3

Properties of Definite Integrals

Reversing the interval

o Reversing the direction of the interval gives the negative of the original
direction.
b

f ( x)dx f ( x)dx
a

Example:

2x 2

2x 2

3
2

2x 2

2x 2

2
3

(18 8)

(8 18)

10

10

Interval of zero length

o When the interval starts and ends at the same place, the result is zero:

f ( x)dx 0

Example:

2x 2

2x 2 3
(18 18)
0

Adding intervals
o We can also add two adjacent intervals together:

f ( x) dx f ( x)dx f ( x) dx

Example:

2x 2

2x 2

2x 2

2x 2

(32 8)
24

10

2x 2

2x 2

(18 8)
=

4
3

(32 18)
+

14

Application: Work
In physics, work is done when a force acting upon an object causes a displacement.
(For example, riding a bicycle.)
If the force is not constant, we must use integration to find the work done.
We use:
b

W f ( x)dx
a

where f(x) is the variable force

f ( x) 2 x 1
Example:
Find the work done if a force
moves it from x = 1 to x = 5.

is acting on an object and

2 x 1dx

u 2 x 1 & du 2dx
du
dx
2

To solve this, we need to evaluate,

1 5
2 x 1dx u 2 du
2 1

1 2
u2
2 3
3

x 5

x 1

3
1
2 x 1 2
3

1
1
9 2 12 27 1
3
3
3

26
8.67units
3

Application: Average Value

Average

f ( x)dx
ba

The average value of a function f(x) in the region x = a to x =

b is given by:

Example:
Find the average value of x(3x2 - 1)3 from 0 to 1.

x(3x
0

1) 3 dx
In this case, ba=1, so to find the average value, we simply need

to evaluate:

Observing the graph, we notice that it has value near 0 for most values
of x between 0 and 1. We estimate the value of the average to be somewhere
around y = 0.5.
1

x(3 x 2 1) 3 dx
x 1

1 x 1 3
u du
6 x 0

4 1
1 u4
1
2

3
x

1
0

6 4 x 0 24
1
2
2

(31 1) (3 0 1) 4
24
u 3 x 2 1 & du 6 xdx
1
15 5

16 1
du
24
24 8
xdx
0.625units
6