Antiderivatives and the

Indefinite Integral

CK-12

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www.ck12.org Chapter 1. Antiderivatives and the Indefinite Integral

C HAPTER
1 Antiderivatives and the
Indefinite Integral
You have spent many lessons learning about how to find the derivative, f 0 (x), of a function f (x), and the process
of differentiation. It should be know surprise then that there would be a name for the function f (x), or family of
functions, that can generate f 0 (x) when differentiated: f (x) and f 0 (x) are a pair of inverse functions, and f (x) is
called an antiderivative of f 0 (x). Before continuing with the lesson, try listing functions that are antiderivative and
derivative pairs?

The Antiderivative

Let’s start off and introduce the idea of the antiderivative of a function.
A function F(x) is called an antiderivative of a function f if F 0 (x) = f (x) for all x in the domain of f .
How is this definition used?
Consider the function f (x) = 3x2 .
Can you think of a function F(x) such that F 0 (x) = f (x)? You should be able to think of lots of them.
Since we differentiate F(x) to get f (x), we see that F(x) = x3 + C will work for any constant C. Graphically, we
can think of the set of all antiderivatives as vertical transformations of the graph of F(x) = x3 . The figure shows two
such transformations.

With our definition and initial example, we now look to formalize the definition and develop some useful rules for
computational purposes, and begin to see some applications.

Introduction to Indefinite Integrals

The process of finding antiderivatives is called antidifferentiation, more commonly referred to as integration. Here
is how the integration is indicated and how it works:
F 0 (x) = f (x) ... Start with the differential equation that represents the definition of the antiderivative
F 0 (x)dx =
R R R
f (x)dx ... Invoke the integration (antidifferentiation) operation using the special symbol .

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 www.ck12.org

R
F(x) +C = f (x)dx ... Obtain the antiderivative F(x) and a constant of integration, C.
R
f (x)dx = F(x) +C ... Note that if we differentiate both sides, we get back the original equation:

Z 
d d
f (x)dx = f (x) = [F(x) +C] = F 0 (x)
dx dx
R
We refer to f (x)dx as “the indefinite integral of f (x) with respect to x”. The function f (x) is called the integrand
and the constant C is called the constant of integration. Finally the symbol dx indicates that we are to integrate
with respect to x.
Using this notation, we would summarize the last example as follows:

Z
3x2 dx = x3 +C

Now, consider the function f (x) = cos x

Can you think of a function F(x) such that F 0 (x) = f (x)?
If you said F(x) = sin x +C you would be correct and here is how this would be written.
f (x) = F 0 (x) . . . Start with the differential equation that represents the definition of the antiderivative
cos x = F 0 (x) . . . Substitute for f (x)
cos x dx = F 0 (x)dx . . . Invoke the integration (antidifferentiation) operation using the special symbol .
R R R
R
cos x dx = F(x) +C . . . Obtain the antiderivative F(x) and a constant of integration, C.
R
cos x dx = sin x + C . . . We know F(x) = sin x because if we differentiate both sides, we get back the original
equation.
We have looked at the derivatives of a number of functions through the calculus concepts and can put together a list
of functions and their antiderivatives as shown below.

TABLE 1.1: Summary of Basic Indefinite Integrals And Antiderivatives

R
Function f (x) Antiderivative f (x)dx = F(x) +C
1 x +C
x2
x 2 +C

x2 x3
+C
3

xn+1
xn , +C
n 6= −1 n+1
1
x ln x +C
sin x − cos x +C
cos x sin x +C
sec2 x tan x +C
csc2 x − cot x +C
sec x tan x sec x +C
csc x cot x − csc x +C

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www.ck12.org Chapter 1. Antiderivatives and the Indefinite Integral

TABLE 1.1: (continued)

ex ex +C
bx
bx ln b +C
b>0
1
x ln b logb x +C

As with differentiation, there are several rules for dealing with the sum and difference of integrable functions.

Basic Integration Rules

If f and g are integrable functions, and C is a constant, then:

Z Z Z
[ f (x) + g(x)]dx = f (x)dx + g(x)dx,
Z Z Z
[ f (x) − g(x)]dx = f (x)dx − g(x)dx,
Z Z
[C f (x)]dx = C f (x)dx.

Compute the following indefinite integral.

Z  
3 3 1
2x + 2 − dx.
x x

Using our rules we have

Z  
3 1 1 1
Z Z Z
3
2x + 2 − dx = 2 x3 dx + 3 2
dx − dx
x x x x
 4  −1 
x x
=2 +3 − ln x +C
4 −1
x4 3
= − − ln x +C.
2 x

Note that sometimes our rules need to be modified slightly due to operations with constants.

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Examples

Example 1

Earlier, you were asked to try listing functions that are antiderivative and derivative pairs. By doing so you are
presenting the results of differentiation and integration operations. If all you did was to list the function being
differentiated as the antiderivative, this is correct. By now you have realized that there is a family of antiderivatives
you could have chosen from, each differing by a constant of integration.

Example 2

Compute the following indefinite integral:

Z
e3x dx.

d 3x
We first note that our rule for integrating exponential functions does not work here since dx e = 3e3x . However, if
we remember to divide the original function by the constant then we get the correct antiderivative and have

e3x
Z
e3x dx = +C.
3
We can now re-state the rule in a more general form as

ekx
Z
ekx dx = +C.
3

Review

For #1-6, find an antiderivative of the function

1. f (x) = 1 − 3x2 − 6x
2
2. f (x) = x√− x 3
5
3. f (x) = 2x + 1
4. f (x) = cos x − x
5. f (x) = x5 − 7x2 + 2
6. f (x) = e−2x + ex

For #7-12, find the indefinite integral

R √ 
7. 2 + 5 dx
8. R 2(x −√3)
3 dx
R

9. x2 · 3 x dx
1
x+ 4√
R
10. dx
R x x
11. R (cos x + 2 sin x)dx
12. 2 sin x cos xdx
13. Solve the differential equation f 0 (x) = 4x3 − 3x2 + x − 3.
14. Find the antiderivative F(x) of the
R
function f (x) = 2e2x + x − 2 that satisfies F(0) = 5.
15. Evaluate the indefinite integral |x|dx (Hint: Examine the graph of f (x) = |x|.)

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www.ck12.org Chapter 1. Antiderivatives and the Indefinite Integral

Review (Answers)

To see the Review answers, open this PDF file and look for section 5.1.

References

1. . . CC BY-NC-SA