6.

3 Area and the Definite Integral

Consider a country that consumes petroleum at a constant rate of 1.2 million barrels per year.
Over the course of four years, we can calculate easily that the country will have consumed 4.8
million barrels of petroleum. Geometrically, we see this as the area under the line y(t) = 1.2 on
the closed interval [0, 4]; however, if the rate of oil consumption is not constant, finding the total
petroleum consumption over four years is a more difficult problem, even though it is still repre-
sented by the area under the curve. We should have in our minds now the following questions.

1.) What is the area under the curve for a non-constant rate of petroleum consumption?

2.) Explicitly, how do we compute this area?

6.3.1 Riemann Approximation

Calculus is essentially the study of the limiting process: we construct a relevant mathematical
model, and we observe how it converges to a quantity that gives information about the model.
Like with derivatives, we will use limits to understand the method of integration. Explicitly, we
will take a partition of an interval [a, b], and we will use this to approximate the area under the
curve. Our limit will then be taken over all refinements of that partition.

Midpoint Approximation. Consider the quadratic function f (x) = x2 . Partition the inter-
val [0, 1] into four sections. Compute the
� 1value
� � 1 of� f�(x̄) for
� the �midpoint
� x̄ of each subinterval.
1 1 3 3
We should wind up with subintervals 0, 4 , 4 , 2 , 2 , 4� , �and� �4 , 1� . �Using the� midpoints
� x̄ of
each subinterval, we have the corresponding y-values f 18 , f 38 , f 58 , and f 78 . Observe that
we have constructed rectangles with length 14 and height f (x̄). Each of the rectangles has area
1
4
· f (x̄). Ultimately, the area under the curve f (x) = x2 on [0, 1] can be approximated as
� � � � � � � � ��
1 1 3 5 7 21
· f +f +f +f = .
4 8 8 8 8 64

Left Endpoint Approximation. Consider the quadratic function f (x) = 16 − x2 . Partition the
interval [1, 3] into four sections. Compute the value of f (�) for the left endpoint � of each subin-
terval. Our left endpoints are � = 1, 32 , 2, and 52 . Each of the rectangles we have constructed has
length 12 and height f (�). We approximate the area under the curve f (x) = 16 − x2 on [1, 3] as
� � � � �� � �
1 3 5 1 55 39 101
· f (1) + f + f (2) + f = · 15 + + 12 + = .
2 2 2 2 4 4 4

Using a computer to generate the area as the number of subintervals n gets large, we find that
the limit of the sequence of approximate areas approaches the value 23 13 = 70
3
.

number of subintervals n 4 10 100 1, 000 10, 000 100, 000

approximate area under f (x) 25.2500 24.1200 23.4132 23.4132 23.3341 23.3334

Certainly, the more subintervals that we use, the better an approximation we obtain. We are now
able to give the general case of approximating the area under a curve.

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6.3.2 The General Case
Let f (x) be a function that is non-negative on the closed interval [a, b]. Let R denote area under
the curve f (x) on the specified interval. Consider partitioning [a, b] into n equally spaced subin-
tervals. Each interval has length Δx = b−an
. Choose representative points x1 , x2 , . . . , xn from each
interval so that no two distinct representatives are in the same subinterval of the partition. Like
before, we may approximate the area under the curve of f (x) as
n
�
[f (xk ) · Δx] = f (x1 ) · Δx + f (x2 ) · Δx + · · · + f (xn ) · Δx.
k=1

We refer to this sum as the Riemann sum of f (x) on the interval [a, b]. We define the area of
the region R as the limit of the Riemann sum as the number of subintervals approaches infinity.
Definition. Given a continuous function f (x) that is non-negative on the interval [a, b], the area
of the region under f (x) is given by
n
�
lim [f (xk ) · Δx] = lim [f (x1 ) · Δx + f (x2 ) · Δx + · · · + f (xn ) · Δx],
n→∞ n→∞
k=1

b−a
where x1 , x2 , . . . , xn are arbitrary points in the n subintervals of [a, b] of equal length Δx = n
.

6.3.3 The Definite Integral

Our previous examples have been a little too convenient: the functions we have dealt with have
been continuous and non-negative on the interval in question; however, we note that the theory
still works even for functions that are negative and possess countably-many discontinuities.
Definition. Let f (x) be�
any function defined on the closed interval [a, b]. Given that the limit of
the Riemann sum lim nk=1 [f (xk ) · Δx] exists and is the same for all choices of representative
n→∞
points, we define the definite integral of f (x) on [a, b] by
� b n
�
f (x) dx := lim [f (xk ) · Δx].
a n→∞
k=1

We refer to the number a as the lower limit of integration and the number b as the upper
limit of integration. Furthermore, we say that f (x) in integrable.

Continuity and Integrability. Continuous functions on closed intervals [a, b] are integrable.

6.3.4 Geometric Interpretation of the Definite Integral

�b
Given a continuous function f (x) on a closed interval [a, b], a f (x) dx is equal to the area of the
region above the x-axis minus the area of the region below the x-axis.

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