Integral calculus

Background mathematics review David Miller

 Integral calculus

Integration in one variable

Background mathematics review David Miller

Area under a curve

Integration can be thought of as

the area under a curve f  x
Approximately
divide area under the curve
into rectangles of width x f2
1 2 3
Add up the areas, f j x, i.e.,  f j x x
j x1 x x2
The integral is the limit as we
make the rectangles thinner x2
 
and thinner  f  x  dx  lim   f j x 
x0
x1  j 
“Area” under a curve

We can extend the idea even

for negative values of f  x  f  x
+ + + +
Then we have some + x
- -
0
negative “areas”
x
but we still add them up
to get the integral
The integral of a non-zero x1 x2
function can be zero
for equal “area” magnitudes x2
 
above and below the axis  f  x  dx  lim   f j x 
x0
x1  j 
Notation for integrals

It is common to think of the

integral sign  and the associated
“infinitesimal” dx
as effectively being “brackets”
enclosing everything that has to
be integrated (the “integrand”)
Alternatively
we can regard everything with the x2 x2

same variable as the infinitesimal  f  x  dx   dx f  x 

(here, x) as being the integrand x1 x1
Limits and integrals

An integral with definite lower and upper

bounds for the integration x2

is called a “definite integral” e.g.,  f  x  dx

Sometimes formally an “indefinite x1

integral” without defined limits is useful

1 3
as in an analytic result e.g.,  x dx  3 x  C
2

but then the result is arbitrary

within an additional “constant of
integration” (here C)
Relation between integration and differentiation

Integration and differentiation are inverse

operations of one another
Specifically
 df 
b

a  dx  dx  f  b   f  a 
which is known as the
“fundamental theorem of calculus”
Sometimes (but not often)
the integral is called the “antiderivative”
 Integral calculus

Volume integration

Background mathematics review David Miller

Volume integration

If the volume of the bricks is V

then adding up all these small volumes
each “labeled” by some index j
would give the total volume
In the limit of very small bricks
we would get the integral that gives us the
total volume
 
V   dV  lim   V 
V 0
V  j 
Volume integral notation
Various notations are used for the volume
    r
 3
of the “infinitesimal” bricks dV dr d
all of which can be confusing V V V

using dV is not very specific about

integration variables
and V is the total volume also
dr does not have the right
dimensions (not meters cubed)
d3r can be viewed as having the
correct dimensions
but, like dr, seems to imply a vector
and the volume is actually scalar
Volume integral of a quantity

We can integrate some quantity that is a

function of position r
such as
the density   r  (kg/m3)
to get the total mass mtot (kg) in
the volume
mtot     r  d 3r
V
 Reducing to one-dimensional integrals

To evaluate volume integrals

we would like to reduce them to a set of zL
nested one-dimensional integrals
This can be done at least for simple volumes
yL
such as a cuboid xL
a volume with rectangular faces
xc  xL yc  yL zc  z L xc  xL yc  yL xc  xL

 dV    
V xc yc zc
dzdydx   
xc yc
z L dydx  
xc
z L yL dx  z L yL xL  V

This is not always possible for other volumes

Surface integrals
Total
surface S
We can also perform integrals over surfaces of the box
by dividing a surface S into “patches” of
area A
and similarly taking the limit of small
patches
 
A   dA  lim   A 
S
A0
 j  Patch of
We can use similar notations  dA   dr   d 2
r area A on
with similar confusions S S V the surface
where r is position on the surface