The chemist’s toolkit 4 Integration

Integration is concerned with the areas under curves. Substitution. Introduce a variable u related to the
The integral of a function f(x), which is denoted independent variable x (for example, an algebraic rela-
∫ f (x )dx (the symbol ∫ is an elongated S denoting a sum), tion such as u = x2 – 1 or a trigonometric relation such
between the two values x = a and x = b is defined by imag- as u = sin x ). Express the differential dx in terms of du
ining the x-axis as divided into strips of width δx and (for these substitutions, du = 2x dx and du = cos x dx,
evaluating the following sum: respectively). Then transform the original integral
b
written in terms of x into an integral in terms of u for
∫ f ( x )d x = lim ∑ f ( xi )δx Integration (4.1) which, in some cases, a standard form such as one of
a δx→0 [definition]
i
those listed in the Resource section can be used.
As can be appreciated from Sketch 4.1, the integral is the
area under the curve between the limits a and b. The func-
Brief illustration 4.1: Integration by substitution
tion to be integrated is called the integrand. It is an aston-
ishing mathematical fact that the integral of a function To evaluate the indefinite integral ∫cos2 x sin x dx make the
is the inverse of the differential of that function. In other substitution u = cos x. It follows that du/dx = –sin x, and
words, if differentiation of f is followed by integration of therefore that sin x dx = –du. The integral is therefore
the resulting function, the result is the original function f
∫ cos x sin x d x = − ∫ u 2 du = − 13 u3 + C = − 13 cos3 x + C
2
(to within a constant).
The integral in the preceding equation with the limits To evaluate the corresponding definite integral, convert the
specified is called a definite integral. If it is written with- limits on x into limits on u. Thus, if the limits are x = 0 and
out the limits specified, it is called an indefinite integral. x = π, the limits become u = cos 0 = 1 and u = cos π = –1:
If the result of carrying out an indefinite integration is
{ }
π −1
g(x) + C, where C is a constant, the following procedure is ∫ cos 2 x sin x dx = − ∫ −1
u 2du = − 13 u3 + C 1 = 2
3
0 1
used to evaluate the corresponding definite integral:

A function may depend on more than one variable, in

b b
I = ∫ f ( x )d x = { g ( x ) + C} = { g (b ) + C} − { g (a) + C} which case it may be necessary to integrate over all the
a
a variables, as in:
= g (b ) − g (a) Definite integral (4.2)
b d
I=∫ ∫ f ( x , y )d x dy
a c

Note that the constant of integration disappears. The defi- We (but not everyone) adopt the convention that a and b
nite and indefinite integrals encountered in this text are are the limits of the variable x and c and d are the limits
listed in the Resource section. They may also be calculated for y (as depicted by the colours in this instance). This pro-
by using mathematical software. cedure is simple if the function is a product of functions
of each variable and of the form f(x,y) = X(x)Y(y). In this
case, the double integral is just a product of each integral:
b d b d
δx I=∫ ∫ X ( x )Y ( y )d x dy = ∫ X ( x )d x ∫ Y ( y )dy
a c a c

Brief illustration 4.2: A double integral

f(x)
Double integrals of the form
L1 L2
I=∫ ∫ sin 2 (πx / L1 )sin 2 (πy / L2 )d x dy
0 0

occur in the discussion of the translational motion of a par-

a x b ticle in two dimensions, where L1 and L2 are the maximum
Sketch 4.1 extents of travel along the x- and y-axes, respectively. To
evaluate I write
Integral T.2 Integral T.2
Further information     
L1 L2
I = ∫ sin (πx /L1 )d x ∫ sin (πy /L2 )dy
2 2

When an indefinite integral is not in the form of one of 0 0

{ } { }
L1 L2
those listed in the Resource section it is sometimes possible sin(2πx /L1 ) sin(2πy /L2 )
= 12 x − +C 1
y− +C
4π/L1 2
4π/L2
to transform it into one of these forms by using integration 0 0

techniques such as: = L1 L2

1
4

Integration by parts. See The chemist’s toolkit 15.