Calculus lecture note

9/25/2014

Notation Σ:
100
X
1 = 1 + 1 + · · · + 1(100 copies) = 100. (1)
i=1
100
X
i = 1 + 2 + 3 · · · + 100. (2)
i=1
n
X
i = 1 + 2 + 3 + · · · + n. (3)
i=1

Gauss provided a smart way to evaluate (2). Namely, he consider

1 + 2 + 3 + · · · + 98 + 99 + 100
1 
= (1 + 2 + 3 + · · · + 98 + 99 + 100) + (100 + 99 + 98 + · · · + 3 + 2 + 1)
2
1 
= (1 + 100) + (2 + 99) + (3 + 98) + · · · + (98 + 3) + (99 + 2) + (100 + 1)
2
100
1 X  1
= 101 = × 10100 = 5050.
2 2
i=1

In the same fashion, one can derive that

n n
X 1X n(n + 1)
i= (n + 1) = . (4)
2 2
i=1 i=1

Now, let f (x) = x2 . We are curious about the area of the region bounded
the curve y = f (x) and x−axis for 0 ≤ x ≤ 1. We denote the area of
this region as A. We then partition the interval [0, 1] into n equals. Let

1
 j n
Γ = {xj = n }j=0 be the partition points. It is easy to see that, for xj ≤
x ≤ xj+1 ,
f (xj ) = min f (x) ≤ f (x) ≤ max f (x) = f (xj+1 ). (5)
xj ≤x≤xj+1 xj ≤x≤xj+1

Let Aj denote the area of the region bounded the curve y = f (x) and x−axis
for xj ≤ x ≤ xj+1 . By the observation (5), we see that
f (xj )(xj+1 − xj ) ≤ Aj ≤ f (xj+1 )(xj+1 − xj ). (6)
Taking the summation of (6) over j = 0, 1, 2, · · · , n − 1, we see that
n−1
X n−1
X n−1
X
f (xj )(xj+1 − xj ) ≤ Aj ≤ f (xj+1 )(xj+1 − xj ), (7)
j=0 j=0 j=0

which is equivalent to
n−1 n−1
X j 1 X j+1 1
( )2 ≤ A ≤ ( )2 . (8)
n n n n
j=0 j=0

We may rewrite (8) as

n−1 n
1 X 2 1 X 2
Ln := 3 j ≤A≤ 3 j =: Un . (9)
n n
j=1 j=1
Pn 2.
To evaluate Ln and Un , we have to derive the formula for i=1 i We
consider
(j + 1)3 = j 3 + 3j 2 + 3j + 1. (10)
Taking summation of (10) for j = 1, 2, · · · , n, by (4), we obtain that
n
3 3
X n(n + 1)
(n + 1) = 1 + 3 j2 + 3 + n. (11)
2
j=1

Hence,
n
X  n(n + 1) 
j 2 = (n3 + 3n2 + 3n + 1) − 1 − 3 − n /3
2
j=1

= (2n3 + 6n2 + 4n − 3n2 − 3n)/6

= (2n3 + 3n2 + n)/6
n(n + 1)(2n + 1)
= (12)
6

2
With the formula (12) at hand, we see that

(n − 1)n(2n − 1) 2n3 − 3n2 + n

Ln = = , (13)
6n3 6n3
and
(2n3 + 3n2 + n)
Un = . (14)
6n3
We notice that
1
0 ≤ A − Ln ≤ Un − Ln = , (15)
n
and
1
0 ≤ Un − A ≤ Un − Ln = . (16)
n
Therefore,
1
0 ≤ lim (A − Ln ) ≤ lim = 0, (17)
n→∞ n n→∞
1
0 ≤ lim (Un − A) ≤ lim = 0, (18)
n→∞ n→∞ n

which implies
2n3 − 3n2 + n
A = lim Ln = lim = lim
n→∞ n→∞ n→∞ 6n3
1 1 1 1 1
= lim − × + × 2
n→∞ 3 2 n 6 n
1 1 1
= − ×0+ ×0
3 2 6
1
= . (19)
3
We adopt the notation
Z 1
1
A= f (x)dx = . (20)
0 3
Homework:
Ra
(1) Let f (x) = x2 and a > 0. Use the above method to calculate 0 f (x)dx.
i.e., Find the area of the region bounded the curve y = f (x) and x−axis for
0 ≤ x ≤ a.
Hint : You may consider the partition Γ = {xj = ja n
n }j=0 .
1
(2) Let f (x) = x3 . Use the above method to calculate 0 f (x)dx. i.e., Find
R

the area of the region bounded the curve y = f (x) and x−axis for 0 ≤ x ≤ 1.

3
PnHint3 : In this process, you will need to find the summation formula for
j=1 j . You will find that the formula

(j + 1)4 = j 4 + 4j 3 + 6j 2 + 4j + 1

is helpful.
Ra
(3) Let f (x) = x3 and a > 0. Use the above method to calculate 0 f (x)dx.
i.e., Find the area of the region bounded the curve y = f (x) and x−axis for
0 ≤ x ≤ a.