TRAPEZOIDAL RULE

The trapezoidal rule is a numerical method that approximates the value of a definite
integral. The trapezoidal rule works by approximating the region under the graph of the
function f(x) as a trapezoid and calculating its area.

Figure 1. Graphical depiction of trapezoidal rule.

𝑏
Consider a definite integral ∫𝑎 𝑓(𝑥)𝑑𝑥 . Let f(x) be continuous on [a, b] and divide [a, b] into n
subintervals of equal length.

𝑏−𝑎
𝑥 =
𝑛

The integral can be approximated by using n trapezoids formed by using straight line segments.
It follows that

The approximation becomes more accurate as the resolution of the partition increases which
simplifies the trapezoidal rule into
𝑛−1
𝑏
𝑥
∫ 𝑓(𝑥)𝑑𝑥 = (ℎ0 + ℎ𝑛 + ∑ 2ℎ𝑗
𝑎 2
𝑗=1