0.

1 Practical Guide - Line Integrals

There are at least two basic practical problems that lead to line integrals.
- evaluate the lenght of curve (path) (line integrals of type I )
- evaluate the mechanic "work" (eort) of a vector eld along a path. (line integrals of type II)
We start by dening a "path".
Denition. A continuous function : [a; b] ! R
2
( a path in the plane ) or : [a; b] ! R
3
( a path in
3-dimensional space) is called a parametrized path. We assume also it is of class C
1
, and a < b .
z
y
x
(t)
(t)
*
*
B = (b)
A = (a)
Notations
the "position" vector
!
r = (t) = (x(t); y(t)) 2 R
2
or
!
r = (t) = (x(t); y(t); z(t)) 2 R
3
x = x(t) , y = y(t) , z = z(t) is called a "parametrization"
By taking the derivatives we get
the "velocity" vector d
!
r =
0
(t) = (x
0
(t); y
0
(t)) 2 R
2
or d
!
r =
0
(t) = (x
0
(t); y
0
(t); z
0
(t)) 2 R
3
the norm of velocity vector is the "speed" k
0
(t)k =
p
[x
0
(t)]
2
+ [y
0
(t)]
2
+ [z
0
(t)]
2
the "acceleration" vector
00
(t) = (x
00
(t); y
00
(t))
The "image" of the function ([a; b]) = f(x(t); y(t)) 2 R
2
, t 2 [a; b]g is called the "path" or the "trajectory"
or the "curve"
The "starting" point is A = (a) , the "end" point is B = (b) . We say is a path from A to B .
The velocity vector
0
(t) is tangent to the path (trajectory)
We may imagine the path as a "road" (trajectory) and the parametrization as a particle traveling along the
path and "t" as the "time".
Denition. The parametrization

: [a; b] ! R
3
,

(t) = (a + b t) ( or ) is called the "opposite"

path or "reverse" path.
The reverse path "" goes along the path "backwards" compared to "". Clearly they reverse the end points
(a) = (b) , (b) = (a)
1
y
z
x

A = (a)
B = (b)
They act as two trains, starting to move at the same time, one () from from A to B and the other () from
B to A .
Only "" travels from B to A as if the "train" "" would do by reversing its movement (like playing backwards a video tape).
Whenever the end point of a path
1
is the same as the starting point of a path
2
, we may consider their
"union"
1
[
2
,

1
: [a; b] !R
3
,
2
: [c; d] !R
3
,
1
(b) =
2
(c)
1
2
1(a)
1(b)=2(c)
2(d)
x
z
y
*
*
*
Examples.
1) Consider the segment in the plane xOy from (0; 0) to (1; 1) .
2
y
x
(0,0)
(1,1)
There are innitely many parametrizations for this segment.

1
(t) = (t; t) , t 2 [0; 1] ,
0
1
(t) = (1; 1) , k
0
1
(t)k =
p
1 + 1 =
p
2
This reproduces a movement with constant velocity (uniform line movement), like a ball sitting in (0; 0) and
then kicked in the direction (1; 1) , it instanly moves with a constant speed (assume no friction applies)

2
(t) = (t
2
; t
2
) , t 2 [0; 1] ,
0
2
(t) = (2t; 2t) ,
0
2
(t) = (2; 2) , k
00
2
(t)k =
p
2
2
+ 2
2
= 2
p
2
This reproduces a movement with constant acceleration (uniformly accelerated movement) , the speed is
0
2
(0) =
(0; 0) at the starting point (0; 0) and reaches
0
2
(1) = (2; 2) at the end point (1; 1) .

3
(t) = (sint; sint) , t 2 [0;

2
]
All three are parametrizations of the segment. Which one should we choose ? It depends on what we wan to
do.
Consider also the opposite paths, just as examples

1
(t) =
1
(1 t) = (1 t; 1 t) , t 2 [0; 1]

2
(t) =
2
(1 t) = ((1 t)
2
; (1 t)
2
) , t 2 [0; 1]

3
(t) =
3
(

2
t) = (sin(

2
t); sin(

2
t)) = (cos t; cos t) , t 2 [0;

2
]
2) Consider a circle centered at the origin (0; 0) with radius R .
3
x
y
0
/2

3/2
(t)
(t)
t
(t) = (Rcos t; Rsint) , t 2 [0;

2
] to go along the rst "quater"
(t) = (Rcos t; Rsint) , t 2 [0; ] to go along the "upper" semicircle
(t) = (Rcos t; Rsint) , t 2 [; 2] to go along the "lower" semicircle
(t) = (Rcos t; Rsint) , t 2 [0; 2] to go along the whole circle once
(t) = (Rcos t; Rsint) , t 2 [0; 4] to go along the whole circle twice
(t) = (Rcos t; Rsint) , t 2 [0; 2n] to go along the whole circle n-times
All these parametrizations go along the circle "couterclockwise" or in "trigonometric" sense.
The velocity vector is

0
(t) = (Rsint; Rcos t)
It is easy to see the velocity
0
(t) is othogonal to the position vector (t) since their scalar product is zero
< (t);
0
(t) >= (t)
0
(t) = (Rcos t; Rsint) (Rsint; Rcos t) = Rcos t(Rsint) + RsintRcos t = 0
Also the velocity is tangent to the circle and the speed is constant
k
0
(t)k =
p
(Rsint)
2
+ (Rcos t)
2
= R
p
(sint)
2
+ (cos t)
2
= R
This reproduces a rotation movement with constant angular speed.
We actually use the standard polar coordinates.
We may also consider other parametrizations. For instance by projecting the circle onto the Ox axis
(x) = (x;
p
R
2
x
2
) , x 2 [R; R] to go along the "upper" semicircle
4
x
y
x
y = sqrt(R-y)
R
-R
3) Consider now the ellipse
x
2
a
2
+
y
2
b
2
= 1
A "natural" parametrization uses "elliptical" coordinates
(t) = (a cos t; b sint) , t 2 [0; 2] to go along the whole ellipse once
x
y
b
a
Properties.
1. Whenever is injective (one to one) the path is called "simple" (it does not go twice over any point, except
eventually the endpoints)
2. Whenever the end point coincides with the starting point, the path is called "closed"
3. The circle (t) = (Rcos t; Rsint) , t 2 [0; 2] is a closed path and also simple.
5
simple path
not simple
closed path
Now we may proceed to dene the line integral of type I.
Denition. Let : [a; b] ! R
3
be class C
1
parametrized path, and f : D R
3
! R a continuous function,
dened in a neighborhood ("around") the path ( ([a; b]) D ).
The line integral of f along the path is
Z

f(x; y; z)dl =
b
Z
a
f((t)) k
0
(t)k dt =
b
Z
a
f(x(t); y(t); z(t))
p
[x
0
(t)]
2
+ [y
0
(t)]
2
+ [z
0
(t)]
2
dt
The value of the integral does not depend on the parametrization.
For the constant function f(x; y; z) = 1 for all (x; y; z) , we get the length of the path
length() =
Z

1dl =
b
Z
a
k
0
(t)k dt =
b
Z
a
p
[x
0
(t)]
2
+ [y
0
(t)]
2
+ [z
0
(t)]
2
dt
The value of the integral does not depend on the sense of going along the path, that is the line integral along
the opposite path "" is the same.
Z

f(x; y; z)dl =
Z

f(x; y; z)dl
Remark.
The line integral is "additive" (as any integral). Namely the integral over a union of paths
1
[
2
is the sum
of line integrals
Z

1
[
2
f(x; y; z)dl =
Z

1
f(x; y; z)dl +
Z

2
f(x; y; z)dl
It makes perfect sense. The length of a city wall is the sum of the length of its sides.
Examples.
1) Compute the length of the a circle of radius R
We use the "standard" parametrization for a circle (assume it is centered at the origin)
(t) = (Rcos t; Rsint) , t 2 [0; 2]

0
(t) = (Rsint; Rcos t) , k
0
(t)k =
p
(Rsint)
2
+ (Rcos t)
2
= R
p
(sint)
2
+ (cos t)
2
= R
6
length() =
Z

1dl =
2
Z
0
k
0
(t)k dt =
2
Z
0
Rdt = 2R
You may compute similarly the length of any arc of a circle.
2) Compute the length of a full arc of a (cylinder) helix with "pitch" = 2b , b > 0 .
This reproduces rolling a wire on a cylinder of radius R.
The "pitch" is the distance between two wires after a (full) 2 -rotation
x
y
z
pitch = 2b
R
(t) = (Rcos t; Rsint; bt) , t 2 [0; 2]

0
(t) = (Rsint; Rcos t; b) , t 2 [0; 2]
length() =
Z

1dl =
2
Z
0
k
0
(t)k dt =
2
Z
0
p
(Rsint)
2
+ (Rcos t)
2
+ b
2
dt =
2
Z
0
p
R
2
+ b
2
dt = 2
p
R
2
+ b
2