Find the Area under a Curve

Finding the Area under a Curve using Integration

Look at the plot below of y vs. x. if we want to determine the area of the curve, we can use integration.

NEED SKETCH

First. we sketch a tiny differential element, dA to represent the differential area. The area of dA is y times dx (base time height). So:



This is the general equation for the area under a curve.

If we want to determine the area between two points under the curve, say a and b, as in the sketch below, we use a and b as the limits:

NEED SKETCH


   


Example: Determine the area under the curve y = x2/2 between 1 and 4.