AP Calculus

Area

Area of a Plane Region

Calculus was built around two problems
Tangent line
Area

Area
To approximate area,
we use rectangles

More rectangles
means more accuracy

Area
Can over approximate
with an upper sum

Or under approximate
with a lower sum

Area
Variables include
Number of rectangles used
Endpoints used

Area
Regardless of the number of rectangles or
types of inputs used, the method is
basically the same.
Multiply width times height and add.

Upper and Lower Sums

An upper sum is defined as the area of
circumscribed rectangles
A lower sum is defined as the area of
inscribed rectangles
The actual area under a curve is always
between these two sums or equal to one or
both of them.

Area Approximation
We wish to approximate the area under a curve f
from a to b.
We begin by subdividing the interval [a, b] into n
subintervals.
Each subinterval is of width x.

Area Approximation

Area Approximation
We wish to approximate the area under a curve f
from a to b.
We begin by subdividing the interval [a, b] into n

b a
subintervals of width x
.
n

f mi Minimum value of f in the ith subinterval

f M i Maximum value of f in the ith subinterval

Area Approximation
f Mi
f mi

b
x

Area Approximation
So the width of each rectangle is

b a
x
n

f
f Mi
f mi

b
x

Area Approximation
So the width of each rectangle is

b a
x

The height of each rectangle is either

or f M i

f mi

f
f Mi
f mi

b
x

Area Approximation
So the width of each rectangle is

b a
x

The height of each rectangle is either

f mi

or f M i
So the upper and lower sums can be defined as
Lower sum
Upper sum

s n f mi x
i 1
n

S n f M i x
i 1

Area Approximation
It is important to note that s n ( Area ) S n
Neither approximation will give you the actual
area
Either approximation can be found to such a
degree that it is accurate enough by taking the
limit as n goes to infinity
In other words lim s n lim S n
n
n