Cieslinski

Raymond Cieslinski
Scot Acre
AP Calculus
22 February 2016
The Definite Integral and its Applications
In calculus, there are four main areas of study. There are limits, derivatives, integrals, and
sequences and series. In this paper, we will be addressing the integral, particularly the definite
integral. The definite integral is most simply a continuous product between the dependent and
independent variable of a function. The definite integral has many applications in mathematics,
such as finding areas and volumes of shapes. The definite integral has many other applications in
physics, as well as in many other mathematics - related fields, such as engineering. But how do
definite integrals work? How can they be used in different ways to find area and volume? To
begin to answer these questions, we need to revisit the concept of area.
In mathematics, finding the area of a polygon is simple. For a rectangle or square, finding
the area is done by finding the product between its width and height, as shown below in figure 1.

Figure 1. A 2 x 3 rectangle.
In order to find the area of the rectangle in figure 1, the width of three units is multiplied
by the height of two units, yielding six square units, meaning that six squares of length 1 unit x 1
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unit can fit within it, hence the unit of area being squared. This applies to all geometrical shapes;
however, the method of finding the areas change from shape to shape. Finding the area of
geometrical shapes this way will always find the exact area as long as the correct area formulas
are used.
Now, consider a function f that is continuous on the interval [a,b] along the x-axis,
meaning that for every value of x, there exists a point f(x) as shown below in figure 2.

Figure 2. Function f bounded on [a,b] along the x-axis.

If we wanted to find the area bound by the function f and the x-axis on the interval [a,b],
we could surely approximate the area under the curve to considerable accuracy if we were to
divide the interval up into smaller sub-intervals and compute the area of a rectangle bound on
each sub-interval with a height that corresponds to a value of f(x) on each sub-interval, as shown
below in figure 3.

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Figure 3. Area approximation of f(x).

Shown in figure 3 above, the area can be approximated using rectangles to equally
subdivide the interval of [a,b]. The area of each rectangle can then be computed, using x as the
width and the value of f(x) at the point chosen for the height on the sub-interval for the height. In
this case, the midpoint of x on each sub-interval was used as the height of each rectangle.
The only issue with this is that using rectangles only approximates the area under the
curve. It does not give the exact value. The approximation could be made more accurate by using
more sub-intervals, which would decrease x. In order to find the exact value of the area bound
by the function f and the x-axis, we can define the area to be the sum of the rectangles as the
number of sub-intervals approaches infinity. This leads us to the limit shown below.
n

A= lim f ( x i ) x
n i=1

Figure 4. The area A bound by function f along the x-axis.

As the number of sub-intervals approaches infinity, the x between each sub-interval
approaches zero, and it is then called dx, meaning that there is an infinitesimally small change in
x. This is the definition of the definite integral, which is shown below.

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b

f ( x ) dx=lim
f ( xi ) x
n
i=1

Figure 5. The definition of the definite integral.

The definite integral is simply a continuous product of a function and its independent
variable, which in this case is x. This continuous product is the key to finding the exact area
between a function and an axis, for it finds the area of an infinite amount of rectangles on the
interval [a,b] with an infinitesimally small width, which is dx, and it adds them all together to
find the total area bound on the interval [a,b].
For example, let f(x) be the square root of x on the interval [0,9], as shown below in
figure 6.

Figure 6. Graph of the square root of x on [0,9].

If we want to find the area bound by f(x) and the x-axis on the interval [0,9], then we can
define the area as shown below.
9

x dx
0

Figure 7. Integral of the square root of x with respect to the x-axis on the interval [0,9].

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The integral can then be solved using the power rule for integration, which is shown
below.

x n dx=

xn +1
+C
n+1

Figure 8. Power rule for integration.

Using the power rule for integration, we end up with the integral of the square root of x,

which is

2 2
x +C . By evaluating this function at x = 0 and x = 9, we can subtract F(0) from
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F(9), where F(x) is the integral of f(x). This yields 18 square units as the area bounded by the
square root of x and the x-axis on the interval [0,9].
With the ability to find the area between a function and the x-axis, we can also find the
area bound between two functions on an interval. To see why this is true, let f(x) be the square
root of x, as we previously did. We can then define a second function, g(x) to be x divided by 3,
shown below.

Figure 9. Graph of f(x) and g(x).

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We already know that the area of f(x) on the interval [0,9] is 18 square units. This is
important to note because f(x) and g(x) intersect at x = 0 and x = 9, so we only need to consider
the area between the two functions on the interval [0,9]. In order to find the area of the region
bound by f(x) and g(x) we must remove the area that lies below g(x) because it is all outside of
the region. This leaves us with the region shown below.

Figure 10. Area of the region bound by f(x) and g(x).

In order to remove the area below g(x), we simply subtract the integral of g(x) on the
interval [0,9] from the integral of f(x) on the interval [0,9]. The area is then written as shown
below.
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x
A= x dx dx
0
0 3
Figure 11. The area of region bounded by f(x) and g(x) written as definite integrals.
This expression can be evaluated using the power rule of integration as done before.
Since we already know the integral of the square root of x on the interval [0,9] to be 18 square
units, we can substitute that in for the integral. For the integral of g(x), we use the power rule for

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integration that we used previously to yield the integral of g(x), which is

1 2
x + C . Upon
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evaluating this on the interval [0,9], we end up with the area under g(x) being 13.5 square units.
After subtracting this area from the area of f(x), we find the area bound between f(x) and g(x) to
be 4.5 square units.
The definite integral has many uses. Though the physical meaning of a definite integral is
the area bound between a curve and its independent variable, it can be used in a plethora of
clever ways to find other pieces of information. One example of this is volume bound by a curve
that is rotated about an axis. Up until this point, we have used the definite integral to calculate
the area bounded by a curve. Now consider revolving a function f about the x-axis so that for an
infinitesimally small change in x, we yield a circular disk with a radius of f(x) and height dx. The
volume of this disk would be written as shown below.
2

dV =f ( x ) dx
Figure 12. Volume of a disk of radius f(x) and height dx.
Instead of describing the volume of this disk with V, we use dV to represent that this disk
is a differential of the entire volume. This means that, alone, this disk has an infinitesimally small
volume because it has a height of dx. If we were to add up every single dV on the interval [a,b]
we would end up with the volume of the solid that is created by revolving f(x) around the
x-axis. To find this volume, we would simply integrate dV on the interval [a,b] as shown below.
b

V = dV = f ( x )2 dx
a

Figure 13. Volume of a rotated solid about the x-axis.

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Integrating this way will yield us a solid about the x-axis. Now what if we wanted there
to be a hole in the middle? Perhaps we want to rotate the region bounded by f(x) and g(x), where
f(x) is the square root of x and g(x) is x divided by 3. What if we wanted to rotate that region,
which we will call R, around the horizontal line y = -2?
Up to this point, we have only considered the x-axis as our plane of rotation. Rotating
about another axis is similar, but it requires for the dV to be changed slightly. In order to account
for the new axis, which is parallel to the x-axis, we must find the difference between f(x) and our
new axis of rotation. This is because a volume of rotation is found by integrating a circular area
with a radius r with respect to an axis. By changing the axis of rotation, the radius is no longer
just f(x). The new radius that we would use if rotating about y = a would be as shown below.
r=f ( x )a
Figure 13. The new radius about the axis y = a.
In the case of the axis of rotation being y = -2, the new radius would become f(x) (-2),
which is the equivalent to f(x) + 2. Now that we have established how to account for a different
axis of rotation, we must consider how we will find the volume of our solid that has a hole
through the center. Before, when we were finding the area of the region R, we were able to
subtract the area below g(x) because anything below it was outside of R. Likewise, when finding
the volume of R rotated about y = -2, we simply subtract the volume bounded by g(x) from the
volume bounded by f(x). This is because the dV will become a ring when putting a hole in it, as
shown below.

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Figure 14. Cross section of a ring created by rotating the region R about y = -2.
Now, we find the volume of our new solid. The volume can be set up as shown in the
integral below.
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V = ( x+2 ) dx
0

2
x
+2 dx
3

( )

Figure 15. The volume of the solid written in integral form.

Shown above is the integral set up to find the volume of our solid. Upon evaluation of the
integrals, the total volume is found to be 98.960 cubic units.
There is another method of finding volumes of revolution that can be useful in some
scenarios. Previously, when finding volumes of solids, we rotated a radius about an axis that was
perpendicular to it so that we created a disk or ring. Now, consider the function h(x) = x2 + x on
the interval [0,1] along the x-axis. We want to revolve the region bounded by h(x) and the x-axis
on the interval [0,1] about the y-axis. If h(x) was easy to put in terms of y, we could write a
function h(y) and use the same method that we previously used but with respect to the y-axis.
The issue, however, is that this function is not easily writeable in terms of y. So instead of using
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disks, lets consider a circular shell with a radius of x units away from the origin and a height
of h(x). If the shell had an infinitesimally small thickness of dx, we would have a shell as shown
below.

Figure 16. Thin shell produced by revolving h(x) around the y-axis.
Since this shell has an infinitesimally thin wall, it can be laid out like a rectangular sheet
that has a thickness of dx, as shown below.

Figure 17. Shell of h(x) laid out as a rectangular sheet.

With this sheet, we can derive a differential for the volume of our solid, as shown below.
dV =2 xh ( x ) dx=2 x ( x2 + x ) dx
Figure 18. Differential for the volume of our solid.
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Now that we have a differential for the volume of the solid, we can simply integrate it
with respect to the x-axis on the interval [0,1]. Upon integrating this, the volume is computed to
be 3.67 cubic units.
So far, we have discussed volume as it pertains to revolving solids about an axis. Solids,
however, do not always have rotational symmetry. Some solids can be produced without any sort
of rotation. For example, consider the region R that we have used previously that is bounded by
f(x) = x and g(x) = x/3. Instead of rotating this region, we can define a solid that has crosssections that are perpendicular to the x-axis that are made up of isosceles triangles with one leg
on the base. This gives us the cross-section shown below.

Figure 19. Triangular cross-section on the region R.

Since the cross section is an isosceles triangle with one leg on the base, the base and
height will both have a length of f(x) g(x). The thickness of our triangular cross section is dx.
In order to find the volume of a solid that is based off of cross-sections like this, we write our dV
as the area of a cross-section of our solid multiplied by dx, which effectively yields a prism with
an infinitesimally small height. With this, we can derive a differential for the volume of our new
solid, as shown below.
2
1
1
1
dV = ( f ( x )g ( x ) )( f ( x )g ( x ) )= ( f ( x ) g ( x ) ) dx=
2
2
2

11

x
dx
3

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Figure 20. Differential for the volume of the solid.
As shown above in figure 20, the differential for the volume is one half of the quantity
f(x) minus g(x) squared times dx, which is of the same form as the volume of a triangular prism,
which is half of the base of the triangle times the height of the triangle times the thickness of the
prism. To find the volume of this solid, we integrate our differential with respect to the x-axis on
the interval [0,9], as shown below.
9

V = dV =
0

1
2

x
dx
3

Figure 21. Volume of the solid written as an integral.

Shown above in figure 21 is the integral that will find the volume of our solid. Upon
evaluating the integral, the volume is calculated to be 1.35 cubic units.
Over the course of this paper, we defined what a definite integral was. From there, the
definite integral was used to find the area under a curve and in between curves. As we advanced,
concepts of volume were discussed and thoroughly explained. We covered four different ways to
find volume. The first that was covered was the disk method that revolved a solid around an axis
and considered a dx cut to be a cylinder that could be integrated to find the whole volume. We
expanded on that with the ring method, which used the disk method twice to remove a hole
through the center of the solid. Along with this, we discussed the importance of axis of rotation
as it pertained to x-axis integration versus y-axis integration as well as using other horizontal
axes, such as y = -2. From there, we discussed using the shell method to find volumes when
putting a function in terms of another variable was not practical. Finally, we looked at volumes
of solids that were not revolved around an axis, rather they had cross-sections of shapes, which
were isosceles triangles in our case.

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In all, the definite integral has many applications, depending on how it is used. It can be
used to simply find the area of a curve, or it can compute volumes of solids. Definite integrals
also have major uses outside of its geometrical meaning. In physics, a definite integral is used in
many types of problems, from calculating work done on an object to calculating the
displacement of an object with respect to time. In signal processing, the definite integral is used
heavily to perform Fourier transforms on wave functions to break them into elementary
sinusoids. In the end, the definite integral is a very useful tool in mathematics and many other
fields of study, it just takes a bit of cleverness to set up.

Works Cited
"Explore Math with Desmos Start Graphing." Desmos.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Feb. 2016.
<https://www.desmos.com/>.

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