What is an integral?
An integral is the area that lies below a graphed line and the x-axis, an indefinite integral is when an interval is not used, and so is often infinite, as it covers the entire area under a graph, and not just a small section.
When an interval is used, the integral will usually be finite, e.g.
The integral of x between 0 and 2 is equal to [x2/2]20 which is equal to 22/2-02/2=2
If you think of this as the line y=x, and simply take the line from x=0 to x=2, then you can see that the graph forms a right angled triangle with base and height 2, calculate the area and you can see that it is also equal to 2, as expected.
JB
Related Maths A Level answers
All answers ▸Find the first three terms in the expansion of (4-x)^(-1/2) in ascending powers of x.
Solve the inequality |2x + 1| < 3|x − 2|.
Show that x^2+6x+11 can be written in as (x+p)^2+q, where p and q are integers to be found.
A ball of mass m moves towards a ball of mass km with speed u. The coefficient of restitution is 0. What is the final velocity if the first ball after the collision.