Rectangular Rule of

Integration

Prepared by:

Ronald P. Bual
Dept. of Chemical Engineering and Technology
MSU-IIT

5/24/20 1
 What is Integration
b

ò f ( x )dx
Integration: y
a

f(x)
The process of measuring
the area under a function
plotted on a graph.

b
I = ò f ( x )dx
a

Where:
f(x) is the integrand
a= lower limit of integration
a b x
b= upper limit of integration

2
 Rectangular Method (a.k.a. The
Midpoint Rule)
The area under the curve
is approximated using a
series of rectangles. The
integral

%
# & ' (' = *+,* -.(,+ /ℎ, 1-+2,
$

= 3-! 4& /ℎ, *+,*3 4& /ℎ, +,1/*.56,3

The midpoint rule for estimating a definite integral uses a Riemann sum
with subintervals of equal width and the midpoints, !", of each subinterval
in place of .

3
 Assume that f(x) is continuous on [a,b]. Let n be a positive
integer. If [a,b] is divided into n subintervals, and mi is the
midpoint of the ith subinterval, set

Then

4
 Example 1

a. Use the midpoint rule to estimate

# %
∫" $ &$ using four subintervals.
b. Compare the result with the actual
value of this integral.

5
 Solution
a. Each subinterval has length
$−& 1−0 1
∆" = = =
' 4 4
Therefore, the subintervals consists of
+ + + + . .
[0, ,
], [,, -], [-, ,], and [,, 1].
+ . 0 1
The midpoints of these subintervals are { / , / , /
, /
}.
+ + + . + 0 + 1
Thus, 2, = 34 + 34 + 34 + 34
, / , / , / , /
1 1 1 9 1 25 1 21 21
= 3 + 3 + 3 + 3 =
4 64 4 64 4 64 4 64 64

6
 Solution
b. Since
#
1
! $ % &$ =
" 3
# %# #
the error in this approximation is: *
− ,- = #.%
≈ 0.0052,
and we see that the midpoint rule produces an estimate
that is somewhat close to the actual value of the definite
integral.

7 http://numericalmethods.eng.usf.edu
 Example 2
#
Estimate the length of the curve ! = % $
$
on [1, 4] using six subintervals.

8
 Solution
#
The length of ! = $ % $ on [1, 4] is
( $
+!
&=' 1+ +%
# +%
,- (
Since ,.
= 1, this integral becomes ∫# 1 + % $ +%. If [1,
4] is divided into six subintervals, then each subinterval
123 (2# #
has length ∆% = 4 = 5 = $, and the midpoints of the
6 8 9 ## #: #6
subintervals are , , , , ,
( ( ( ( ( (
. If we set ; % =
1 + % $,

9
 Solution
!"
1 5 1 7 1 9 1 11 1 13
= &' + &' + &' + &' + &'
2 4 2 4 2 4 2 4 2 4
1 15
+ &'
2 4
1
≈ (1.6008 + 2.0156 + 2.4622 + 2.9262 + 3.4004
2
+ 3.8810) = 8.1431 56789

10
 Example 3

Use the midpoint rule to estimate

#"
∫" $ %& using n = 2.

#'
Ans. ()
11
 Example 4

Use the midpoint rule to estimate

#$
∫" 2& " '& using ( = 1 and ( = 2 .

Ans. 576, 640

12
 Example 5

Integrate ! " = " $ between the interval

[1, 2] using four subintervals.

Ans. 3.725
13