Application of integration

Overview
There are lots of applications for integrals. We look at two particular applications in this
lecture.
Motivation
There are engineering models that involve equations with derivatives. Simple examples
of these can be solved using elementary techniques. In some engineering problems we
need to compute the area bounded by curves, and a simple interpretation of this
configuration gives the area we sought.
Key concepts in this lecture
Some equations involving derivatives can be solved using our knowledge of the
derivatives
By using rectangles, we can get bounds for the expression representing the area
between a curve and the x-axis.
The above concept can be extended to that for the area between two curves
Content
Integration as the inverse operation to differentiation
Simple differential equations
The area between a curve and the x-axis
The area between two curves
Outcome
At the end of this lecture, you will be able to
Solve simple differential equations involving either a first derivative or special
cases involving second derivatives
Find the area between two curves
Exercises
1. Find y when
(a)

dy
sec 2 ( x );
dx

2. Determine y when
d2y
(a)
9 y 0;
dx 2

(b)

dy
sin( x) cos( x),
dx

(b)

d2y
16 y 0,
dx 2

y (0) 2 ;

y (0) 1,

(c)

dy
x 3 y 0.
dx

dy
(0) 0.
dx

3. Find the area bounded between the curves

(a) y x 3 and y x ;
(b) y = arctan(x) and y = x2 1.
4. Find the area bounded by y = 3 sin(x), y = cosh(x) and x =

3
.
2

Application of integration
Simple differential equations
Consider the following equation
dy
f (x )
dx

This is the simplest example of a differential equation because the

equation contains a derivative. Given the function f(x), the aim is
to find the unknown function y. Since integration is the reverse of
differentiation, we can simply write
y f ( x ) dx .
Example 1.
Determine y where

dy
cos( x ).
dx

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Direct integration gives
y

cos( x )dx sin( x) C.

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The arbitrary constant above can be determined if we are given a
set of conditions. Suppose the question becomes
Example 2.
Determine y where

dy
cos( x ) and y 1 when x 0.
dx

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We already got the solution in the previous example. This is
y sin( x ) C .
Now substituting y = 1 and x = 0, we have 1 = sin(0) + C = C so
that the solution satisfying the given condition is
y = sin(x) + 1.
The previous differential equation is a first order differential
equation. A more general form of a differential equation is
dy
p ( x) y 0.
dx

This can also be solved for y by first rearranging the equation as

1 dy
p ( x ).
y dx

Now, the chain rule gives

d
ln y 1 dy so the differential equation
dx
y dx

becomes

d
ln | y | p( x)
dx

and integrating both sides now, we get

ln | y | p x dx.

Example 3.
Solve

dy
y

0.
dx x 1

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Rewriting this, we have
1 dy
d
ln | y | 1 .

y dx dx
x 1

Integrating both sides gives

ln | y |

1
dx ln x 1 C
x 1

It is usual to give the answer in terms of y, so taking exponential of

both sides of the equation, we get
| y | e ln | x 1| C .

Remember that eln | y | | y | and that exp( ln | x 1 |)

1
.
| x 1|

We can now write

| y |

eC
.
| x 1|

Since eC is an arbitrary constant, we can replace it by A, which is

still arbitrary. Removing the modulus sign on both sides, and
absorbing the sign into the arbitrary constant, we have finally the
solution
y

A
.
x 1

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In general, solution to
dy
p( x) y 0
dx

can always be written as

p ( x ) dx
y Ae

where we have added the constant of integration and allowed A to

be positive or negative, depending on the conditions of the
problem.
An application from dynamics
The tension in an elastic string is proportional to the extension of
the string. Suppose there is a mass attached to the end of a string,
which is fixed at one end. Now we know
force = mass acceleration
so we have the relation

d2y
y
dt 2

Force pulling
The mass back
y
m

where y is the extension of the string and m is the mass. Let the
constant of proportionality be k, and we get
d2y
m 2 ky
dt

or
d2y
y
dt 2

where is a constant (= k/m).

Such equations can be solved if we can rewrite the left hand side as
shown below.
Let v

dy
be the velocity, then using the chain rule, we have
dt
d 2 y dv dv dy
dv
d 1 2

v .
2
dt
dt
dy dt
dy dy 2

Further y can be written as

d
dy

1
2

y2

Therefore
d2y
y
dt 2

becomes
d
dy

1
2

v 2

d
dy

1
2

y2 .

Integrating both sides gives

1
2

v 2 12 y 2 C.

This gives the velocity in terms of the extension y. With the

appropriate conditions, we can do another integration to get a
solution for y.

Example 4
Solve the following differential equation
d2y
y 0,
dx 2
dy
1.
dx

given that when x 0, y 0, and

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Let v

dy
d 2 y dv dv dy
dv
d
, then

2
dx
dx
dx dy dx
dy dy

The differential equation becomes

d
d

dy
dy
2

1
2

1
2

1
2

v2 .

y2

so
1
2

v 2 12 y 2 C.

Now when y = 0, v = 1, and substituting into the above equation,

we get = C, so that we now have
v 2 1 y 2 or v

dy
1 y2 .
dx

Rewriting this, we get

1
1 y
Integrating, we have

dy

1 y2

dy
1.
dx

dx .

Using formula 8.25 on p. 363, we have sin 1 y x A.

x = 0, y = 0, so A = 0 and we can write the solution as

y sin( x ) .
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Definite integral as area under the curve
Integration is the inverse operation to differentiation. A useful
interpretation, when the function to be integrated is positive, is the
area between the curve and the x-axis. Consider the function
y = x2,
0 < x < 2.
We know the integral is

2
0

x3
x dx

8
2.66666
3

to 6 s.f.
7

Let us approximate the area between the curve and the x-axis using
10 rectangles.

The first rectangle has zero height and the area of the other 9
rectangles can be calculated easily and is given by
0.2(.04+.16+.36+.64+1+1.44+1.96+2.56+3.24)= 2.28
The width of each rectangle is 0.2 and the height is taken from the
members of the sequence:
0.22, 0.42, 0.62, , 1.82.
This is an underestimation of the true value.
Let us now increase the number of rectangles to 50:

Now the width of each rectangle is 0.04 and the height of each
rectangle is given by the sequences of values
0.042, 0.082, 0.122, , 1.962.
The sum of the areas of all the rectangles is
2
0.0016 0.0064 3.8416 .
50

We can sum this up by hand, or we can use Maple to help us do

this task. The height of the kth rectangle is 0.04k, and k ranges
from 1 to 49. Using the command sum(0.04*(0.04*k)^2, k=1..49),
we get 2.5872. Still an underestimation.
Now let us use 100 rectangles. This gives each rectangle with
width 0.02, and the height of the kth rectangle is 0.02k, so the area
of all the rectangles is given by
9

sum(0.02*(0.02*k)^2, k=1,,99);
which gives 2.6268.
With 1000 rectangles, we get the following result:
Sum(0.002*(0.002*k)^2, k=1..999) = 2.662668.
Continuing in this manner, we will get the value of the area
approach the true value of the integral as the number of rectangles
increases.

10

We can also draw the rectangles another way. With 10 rectangles,

we can have

This time the sum of the areas of the rectangles will be more than
the area between the curve and the x-axis. In fact, we have the area
as
0.2(0.04 + 0.16 + + 4) = 3.08.
With 50, 100 and 1000 rectangles, we get respectively, the areas as
2.7472, 2.7068, and 2.670668, and so on.
Combining with the lower estimates, we can estimate the upper
and lower bounds for the area between the curve and the x-axis.
Using 1000 rectangles, the bounds are
2.662668 < area < 2.670668.
With 10000 rectangles, the bounds are
2.66626668 < area < 2.66706668.

11

If we allow the number of rectangles to tend to infinity, we should

get a value as close to the true value of 8/3 as we like.

12

Of course, when the curve crosses the x-axis at a point c, say, the
integral over a range that includes the point c no longer represents
area. In fact, the area for the part where the curve is below the xaxis will be negative. The definite integral

1.5
0

( x 1) 3 dx

x 1)
1
4

1.5
0

0.234375

and the negative value is because more of the curve lies below the
x-axis.

13

Area between two curves

Consider the two curves for y = f(x) and y = g(x), shown below:

The area between the two curves is the same as the area under the
upper curve, less the area under the lower curve. If the two curves
intersect at x = a and x = b, then the area between them is given by
f ( x) g ( x) dx .
Now the area between the two curves can be anywhere. If f(x)
denotes the curve that is above the other curve, denoted by g(x),
then (f(x) g(x)) is always positive.
b

Example 5
14

Find the area between the curves y = x2 1 and y = x.

_____________________________________
The graph of the two functions is given below:

The two curves intersect at 0.618 and 1.618 (to 3 d.p.). The upper
curve is y = x and the lower curve is y = x2 1.
The area between the two curves is therefore

1.618

x ( x 2 1) dx 1.863

0.618

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Of course, we do not always have to find the area between two
curves that intersect.

15

Example 6.
Find the area between the two curves y = sin(x), y = cos(x),
between x= 0 and x = /6.
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sin(x)

cos(x)

The upper curve is cos(x) and the lower curve is sin(x). The left
hand boundary is x = 0 while the right hand boundary is x = /6.
The area of the enclosed region is therefore

cos( x) sin( x )dx sin( x ) cos( x )

/6
0

sin( / 6) cos( / 6) 1

3 1

2
2

16