6.

1 day 1: Antiderivatives
and Slope Fields
Greg Kelly, Hanford High School, Richland, Washington
First, a little review:
Consider:
2
3 y x = +
then:
2 y x
'
= 2 y x
'
=
2
5 y x =
or
It doesnt matter whether the constant was 3 or -5, since
when we take the derivative the constant disappears.
However, when we try to reverse the operation:
Given: 2 y x
'
= find y
2
y x C = +
We dont know what the
constant is, so we put C in
the answer to remind us that
there might have been a
constant.

If we have some more information we can find C.

Given: and when , find the equation for . 2 y x
'
= y 4 y = 1 x =
2
y x C = +
2
4 1 C = +
3 C =
2
3 y x = +
This is called an initial value
problem. We need the initial
values to find the constant.
An equation containing a derivative is called a differential
equation. It becomes an initial value problem when you
are given the initial condition and asked to find the original
equation.

Initial value problems and differential equations can be

illustrated with a slope field.
Slope fields are mostly used as a learning tool and are
mostly done on a computer or graphing calculator, but a
recent AP test asked students to draw a simple one by hand.

Draw a segment
with slope of 2.
Draw a segment
with slope of 0.
Draw a segment
with slope of 4.
2 y x
'
=
x
y
y
'
0 0 0
0 1 0
0 0
0 0
2
3
1 0
2
1 1 2
2 0 4
-1
0
-2
-2
0 -4

2 y x
'
=
If you know an initial
condition, such as (1,-2), you
can sketch the curve.
By following the slope field,
you get a rough picture of
what the curve looks like.
In this case, it is a parabola.

Go to: and enter the equation as: Y=

For more challenging differential equations, we will use the
calculator to draw the slope field.
2
2
1
dy xy
dx x
=
+
( )
1 2 1/ 1 ^2 y t y t
'
= - - + (Notice that we have to replace
x with t , and y with y1.)
(Leave yi1 blank.)

On the TI-89:
Push MODE and change the Graph type to DIFF EQUATIONS.
MODE
Go to: Y=
Press and make sure FIELDS is set to SLPFLD.
I
( )
1 2 1/ 1 ^2 y t y t
'
= - - +
Set the viewing
window:
Then draw the graph:

WINDOW
GRAPH
Be sure to change the Graph type back to FUNCTION
when you are done graphing slope fields.

Integrals such as are called definite integrals

because we can find a definite value for the answer.
4
2
1
x dx
}
4
2
1
x dx
}
4
3
1
1
3
x C +
3 3
1 1
4 1
3 3
C C
| | | |

| |
\ \
+ +
. .
64 1
3 3
C C +
63
3
= 21 =
The constant always cancels
when finding a definite
integral, so we leave it out!
Integrals such as are called indefinite integrals
because we can not find a definite value for the answer.
2
x dx
}
2
x dx
}
3
1
3
x C +
When finding indefinite
integrals, we always
include the plus C.

Many of the integral formulas are listed on page 307. The

first ones that we will be using are just the derivative
formulas in reverse.
On page 308, the book shows a technique to graph the
integral of a function using the numerical integration
function of the calculator (NINT).
( )
1 NINT sin , , 0, y x x x x =
or
0
sin
x
y t t dt =
}
This is extremely slow and usually not worth the trouble.
A better way is to use the calculator to find the
indefinite integral and plot the resulting expression.

To find the indefinite integral on the TI-89, use:

( )
sin , x x x -
}
The calculator will return:
( ) ( )
sin cos x x x
Notice that it leaves out the +C.

Use and to put this expression

in the screen, and then plot the graph.
COPY PASTE
Y=
[-10,10] by [-10,10]
t