{"id":8182,"date":"2016-12-08t11:45:36","date_gmt":"2016-12-08t19:45:36","guid":{"rendered":"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/?p=8182"},"modified":"2016-12-02t15:40:21","modified_gmt":"2016-12-02t23:40:21","slug":"computing-definite-integral-polynomial","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/ap\/computing-definite-integral-polynomial\/","title":{"rendered":"computing the definite integral of a polynomial"},"content":{"rendered":"
we want to focus on the definite integral of a polynomial function. these arise very commonly in calculus, so here are detailed solutions to two problems, one multiple-choice and one free-response, involving a definite integral of polynomial.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
you will not commonly be asked to evaluate common definite integrals on the free-response, but rather you will be asked to find an area or compute a volume, which will require computing a common definite integral. suppose we want to compute the volume of the solid obtained by revolving the function about the x-axis:<\/p>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n the cross sections when cutting perpendicular to the x-axis are circles with radius given by the function\u00a0.\u00a0the definite integral that needs to be evaluated is\u00a0, \u00a0since this is the area of a circle multiplied by the length of the interval from -6 to 6. we compute:<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n therefore to compute the integral we compute the sum of the integrals of the individual terms, since polynomials are sums of continuous functions:<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n theorem:\u00a0<\/b>if v(x)\u00a0is a continuous function with an antiderivative v(x),\u00a0<\/i><\/i>then \u00a0where <\/i>, <\/i>\u00a0are in the domain of v(x).\u00a0<\/i><\/i><\/p>\n the ftc says that we can pick any old antiderivative v(x)<\/em> for v(x)<\/em>, so we need to compute a string of antiderivatives for the integrands of the terms in the sum. in the previous post we discussed but did not state:<\/p>\n the power rule:<\/b> the derivative ‘=<\/p>\n we used this to find that the integral ,\u00a0and since we only need one antiderivative to evaluate definite integrals, we can take \u00a0for use in this case.<\/p>\n therefore we can evaluate (using the fact that\u00a0,\u00a0,\u00a0\u00a0and the ftc):<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n you can use your calculator to get 723.823 units cubed.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n here is a sample of a typical multiple-choice question asking for you to formulate a definite integral based on the same concept discussed above.<\/p>\n question: <\/b>a solid is generated by revolving the region enclosed by the function , and the lines x=2, x=3, y=1\u00a0about the x-axis. which of the following definite integrals gives the volume of the solid? (hint: draw a picture)<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n the idea for this problem is to recognize that this solid is a difference of integrals. suppose that we had the volume of the function\u00a0\u00a0when bounded by the lines\u00a0\u00a0x = 2, x = 3,\u00a0and rotated about the x-axis\u2014then we would have the volume of the following solid:<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n given this volume, we would only need to subtract the volume of the following figure, derived by rotating y=1\u00a0bounded by x=2, x=3,\u00a0about the x-axis:<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n from the upper volume, with radius :<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n therefore we need to subtract the two integrals, however using the integral laws we can express this in the form ,\u00a0which we follow up by substitution of our names for ,:<\/p>\nrecall the fundamental theorem of calculus (ftc):<\/h3>\n
multiple-choice definite integrals:<\/h2>\n