Calculus 2 : Area Under a Curve

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for Calculus 2

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Example Questions

Example Question #41 : Area Under A Curve

Find the area between the two curves given by the functions  and 

Possible Answers:

None of the other answers

Correct answer:

Explanation:

The area between two curves  and  is given by the formula , where  is the upper bound curve,  is the lower bound curve, and  and  are the solutions to the equation . The graphs of  and  are given in the figure below:

Cube graphs

As we can see, the graph of  is the upper bound for the area and the graph of  is the lower bound for the area. It is also apparent that the limits of integration are given by  and . To see this algebraically, for graphs often do not give us clear answers for limits of integration, we would solve the equation . Plugging in  and , we obtain:

Setting each factor equal to  gives us , and . With these limits of integration, our integral for the area becomes:

Therefore the area between the curves must be .

Example Question #42 : Area Under A Curve

Find the area in between the parabola  and the x-axis from  to .

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

To calculate the area between two functions, take the integral of the function on top minus the function on bottom. The intersection of the functions will be the bound on the integral. In this particular case the top function is the parabola described as  and the bottom function is the x-axis, or in other words zero.

Therefore the basic integral looks as follows.

The question indicates the upper and lower bound as  and , applying these bounds to the integral results in,

.

To calculate the integral recall the following rule of integration.

where C represents a constant.

Applying this rule to the integral in question results in,

Substituting in the bounds results in the solution for area.

 

Example Question #101 : Integral Applications


Find the area bounded by the functions, 

 

Set up the integral and simplify the integrand. 

Plot for area between curves problem

Possible Answers:

 



 

 

 

Correct answer:

 



Explanation:

Find the area bounded by the functions: 

 

Looking at the plot of the function we can see that  for all  in the region. The area formula is therefore, 

 

 

, for  and 

 

To find the intersection points, set the functions equal to each other and solve for 

 

 

 

Therefore, the two lines intersect for the following values of 

.

 

So we will integrate over this interval, 

 

 

 

 

Finally we simplify the integrand to arrive at: 

 

If you were to evaluate the integration is simple, but evaluating the limits would be quite tedious. The outcome is: 

 

 

 

Example Question #102 : Integral Applications

What is the area under the curve bounded by the x-axis from x=2 to x=4?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

When setting up this problem, it should look like this: . Then, integrate. Remember that when integrating, raise the exponent by 1 and then also put that result on the denominator: . Then, evaluate first at 4 and then at 2. Subtract the results. .

Example Question #103 : Integral Applications

What is the area under the curve bounded by the x-axis from x=4 to x=5?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

First, set up the integral expression: . Then, integrate. Remember, when integrating, raise the exponent by 1 and then put that result on the denominator: . Then, evaluate at 5 and then 4. Subtract those results: . Simplify to get your final answer of .

Example Question #104 : Integral Applications

What is the area under the curve bounded by the x-axis from x=2 to x=3?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

First, set up the integral expression: . Then, integrate. Remember to raise the exponent by 1 and then put that result on the denominator: . Evaluate at 3 and then 2. Subtract those 2 results: .

Example Question #105 : Integral Applications

What is the area under the curve bounded by the x-axis and from to

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

First, set up the integral expression:

Now, integrate:

Evaluate at 5 and 4. Subtract the results:

Simplify to get:

Example Question #106 : Integral Applications

What is the area under the curve  bounded by the x-axis and from  to 

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

First, set up the integral expression:

Now, integrate. Remember to raise the exponent by 1 and then also put that result on the denominator:

Evaluate at 2 and then 1. Subtract the results:

Example Question #107 : Integral Applications

What is the area under the curve bounded by the x-axis from x=4 to x=5?

 

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

First, set up the integral expression:

Now, integrate. Remember to raise the exponent by 1 and then also put that result on the denominator:

Evaluate at 5 and then 4. Subtract the results:

Simplify to get your answer of:

Example Question #108 : Integral Applications

What is the area under the curve from to , bounded by the x-axis?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

First, set up the integral expression:

Next, integrate. Remember to raise the exponent by 1 and also put that result on the denominator:

Now, evaluate at 5 and then 4. Subtract the results:

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