AP Calculus AB : Integrals

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for AP Calculus AB

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Example Questions

Example Question #51 : Interpretations And Properties Of Definite Integrals

Given that  and , find the value of the following expression:

 

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

First, simplifying the given's gives us  

And

Our goal is to get the given expression into terms of these two integrals. Our first step will be to try and get a  from our expression.

 

First note,

And for the third term,

Putting these facts together, we can rewrite the original expression as

Rearranging,

The three terms in parentheses can all be brought together, as the top limit of the previous integral matches the bottom limit of the next integral. Thus, we now have

 

Substituting in our given's, this simplifies to 

Example Question #171 : Integrals

Evaluate the definite integral 

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

Here we are using several basic properties of definite integrals as well as the fundamental theorem of calculus. 

First, you can pull coefficients out to the front of integrals.

Second, we notice that our lower bound is bigger than our upper bound. You can switch the upper and lower bounds if you also switch the sign.

Lastly, our integral "distributes" over addition and subtraction. That means you can split the integral by each term and integrate each term separately. 

Now we integrate and calculate using the Fundamental Theorem of Calculus.

Example Question #821 : Ap Calculus Ab

Solve:

Possible Answers:

None of the other answers

Correct answer:

Explanation:

Rather than solve each integral independently, we can use the property of linearity to add the integrals together:

The integrals were solved using the following rule:

Finally, we evaluate the definite integral by evaluating the answer at the upper bound and subtracting the answer evaluated at the lower bound:

Example Question #1 : Finding Specific Antiderivatives Using Initial Conditions, Including Applications To Motion Along A Line

A particle is moving in a straight path with a constant initial velocity. The particle is then subjected to a force causing a time-dependent acceleration given as a function of time:  

After 10 seconds, the particle has a velocity equal to  meters-per-second. Find the initial velocity in terms of the constants ,   and 

Units are all in S.I. (meters, seconds, meters-per-second, etc.) 

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

 

Begin by finding the velocity function by integrating the acceleration function.

  

We use  as the constant of integration since the function  is a velocity and at initially, at , the velocity is equals the constant of integration. 

 

 

At  seconds we are told the velocity is equal to 
 

 

 

 

Example Question #1 : Finding Specific Antiderivatives Using Initial Conditions, Including Applications To Motion Along A Line

Find the average value of the function  on the interval 

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

The average value of a function on a given interval  is given by the following function:

Now, let's simply input our values and function in:

Example Question #1 : Finding Specific Antiderivatives Using Initial Conditions, Including Applications To Motion Along A Line

Determine the position function for a particle whose velocity is given by the equation

and whose initial position is 10.

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

The position function describing any object is the antiderivative of the velocity function (in other words, velocity is the derivative of position). 

So, we first integrate the velocity function:

The following rule was used for integration:

Now, to determine the constant of integration, we use our initial condition given,

Plugging this into our function, we get

Our final answer is

Example Question #171 : Integrals

The function describing the acceleration of a spacecraft with respect to time is 

Determine the function describing the position of a spacecraft given that the initial acceleration is 0, the initial velocity is 3, and the initial position is 9. 

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

To find the position function from the acceleration function, we integrate the acceleration function to find the velocity function, and integrate again to get the position function:

The integral was found using the following rule:

To find the constant of integration, we use the initial velocity condition given:

Now, after replacing C with the known value, we integrate the velocity function to get the position function:

The same rule of integration was used as above.

We use the same procedure to solve for C, too, only this time using the initial position condition:

Our final answer is

Example Question #4 : Finding Specific Antiderivatives Using Initial Conditions, Including Applications To Motion Along A Line

Given a particle with an acceleration at time  to be  . With initial conditions  and  where  is the velocity at time , and  is position of the particle at time .

Find the position at time .

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

We first must establish the following relationship

 and 

We now may note that 

 or 

Since 

We must plug in our initial condition 

Therefore our new velocity equation is 

We now may similarly integrate the velocity equation to find position.

Plugging in our second initial condition 

We find our final equation to be:

 

Example Question #881 : Ap Calculus Ab

Find the velocity function given the following information:

The acceleration function is  ;

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

To find the velocity function, we integrate the acceleration function (the acceleration is the antiderivative of the velocity):

The rules of integration used were

To solve for the integration constant, we plug in the given initial condition:

Our final answer is

 

Example Question #881 : Ap Calculus Ab

What is the position function if the initial position is 0 and the velocity function is given by 

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

To find the position function, we must integrate the velocity function, as velocity is the antiderivative of position:

The following rule of integration was used:

Finally, we use the initial condition to solve for the integration constant:

Our final answer is

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