5.2.

LINE INTEGRALS 265

5.2 Line Integrals
5.2.1 Introduction
Let us quickly review the kind of integrals we have studied so far before we
introduce a new one.
1. Denite integral. Given a continuous real-valued function ),
_
b
a
) (r) dr
represents the area below the graph of ), between r = a and r = /,
assuming that ) (r) _ 0 between r = a and r = /.
2. The denite integral can also be used to compute the length of a curve.
If a curve C is given by its position vector

r (t) = r(t) , j (t) in 2-D or

r (t) = r(t) , j (t) , . (t) in 3-D for a _ t _ /, then the length 1 of the
curve C is given by
1 =
_
b
a
[

r
0
(n)[ dn
The arc length function was dened to be
: (t) =
_
t
a
[

r
0
(n)[ dn
so that, using the fundamental theorem of Calculus, we have
d:
dt
= [

r
0
(t)[
3. Double integrals. Given a real-valued function ) of two variables,
__
D
) (r, j) d
represents the volume of the solid above the region 1 and below the graph
of . = ) (r, j).
4. The double integral can also be used to nd the area of a region by the
formula
area of 1 =
__
D
d
In this section, we study an integral similar to the one in example 1, except
that instead of integrating over an interval, we integrate along a curve.
5.2.2 Line Integrals Along Plane Curves
Let us consider the following problem: Suppose that we have a plane curve C
given by its position vector

r (t) = r(t) , j (t) for a _ t _ /. (5.1)
266 CHAPTER 5. VECTOR CALCULUS
Let us assume C is a smooth curve (

r
0
is continuous and

r
0
(t) ,=

0 ). Suppose
further that we have a continuous function . = ) (r, j), we will assume for now
) (r, j) _ 0. Consider the surface o given by r(t) , j (t) , .. This surface will
intersect the graph of . = ) (r, j) in a curve C
0
. We wish to nd the surface area
of o between the curves C and C
0
. To help you visualize o, think of a curtain
hanging. Except that the curtain in not hanging along a straight rail, but a
curved one. Furthermore, the rail is not necessarily horizontal, it has whatever
shape ) has. This is shown in gure 5.2.2. Imagine we want to nd the area of
the curtain.We will rst approximate the area using a technique similar to the
one used when dening the denite integral. We will outline the steps.
1. Split [a, /] into : subintervals [t
i1
, t
i
] of equal length. Let r
i
= r(t
i
),
j
i
= j (t
i
).
2. The corresponding points 1
i
(r
i
, j
i
) divide C into : subarcs of length
:
1
, :
2
, ..., :
n
.
3. In each subarc, pick a point 1

i
(r

i
, j

i
) (this corresponds to a point t

i
in
[t
i1
, t
i
].
4. Draw the rectangle with base [1
i1
, 1
i
] and height ) (r

i
, j

i
). The area of
this rectangle is ) (r

i
, j

i
) :
i
.
5. The area of o can be approximated by
n

i=1
) (r

i
, j

i
) :
i
.
6. The larger : is, the better the approximation.
5.2. LINE INTEGRALS 267
This allows us to dene:
Denition 388 With the notation above, the area of o, denoted (o) is dened
to be
(o) = lim
n!1
n

i=1
) (r

i
, j

i
) :
i
Denition 389 If ) is any continuous function (not just a positive one), de-
ned on a smooth curve C given in equation 5.1, then the line integral of )
along C is dened by
_
C
) (r, j) d: = lim
n!1
n

i=1
) (r

i
, j

i
) :
i
(5.2)
if this limit exists.
You will note that we are integrating with respect to arc length. Remem-
bering that
ds
dt
= [

r
0
(t)[, it follows that d: = [

r
0
(t)[ dt and therefore, the line
integral can be evaluated as follows:
Theorem 390 If ) is any continuous function (not just a positive one), dened
on a smooth curve C given in equation 5.1, then the line integral of ) along
C can be computed by the following formula
_
C
) (r, j) d: =
_
b
a
) (r(t) , j (t)) [

r
0
(t)[ dt (5.3)
=
_
b
a
) (r(t) , j (t))
_
_
dr
dt
_
2
+
_
dj
dt
_
2
dt
Remark 391 We used a and / for the limits of integration because they are the
limits of the variable t.
Remark 392 Note that the line integral is with respect to arc length. However,
to compute it, we use the parametrization of the curve, whatever it is. We
rewrite everything in terms of the parameter used for the curve.
Example 393 Evaluate
_
C
_
2 +r
2
j
_
d: where C is the upper half of the unit
circle r
2
+j
2
= 1.
First, we must write C in parametric form. The upper half of the unit circle is
268 CHAPTER 5. VECTOR CALCULUS
Figure 5.5: Piecewise smooth curve
r(t) = cos j, j (t) = sint, 0 _ t _ . Then
_
C
) (r, j) d: =
_
b
a
) (r(t) , j (t)) [

r
0
(t)[ dt
=
_

0
_
2 + cos
2
t sint
_
_
sin
2
t + cos
2
tdt
=
_

0
_
2 + cos
2
t sint
_
dt
=
_

0
2dt +
_

0
cos
2
t sintdt
=
_
2t
cos
3
t
3
_

0
= 2 +
1
3
+
1
3
= 2
_
+
1
3
_
Remark 394 In the above theorem, the given formula to nd
_
C
) (r, j) d: re-
quires that C be a smooth curve. However, It is still possible to compute a
line integral when the curve C is not a smooth curve, as long as it is piecewise
smooth, that is made of smooth pieces, as the one shown in gure 5.5. In this
case
_
C
) (r, j) d: =
_
C1
) (r, j) d: +
_
C2
) (r, j) d: +
_
C3
) (r, j) d: +
_
C4
) (r, j) d:
5.2. LINE INTEGRALS 269
Example 395 Evaluate
_
C
2rd: where C = C
1
' C
2
, C
1
being the arc of the
parabola j = r
2
between (0, 0) and (1, 1) and C
2
being the vertical line from
(1, 1) to (1, 2).
_
C
2rd: =
_
C1
2rd: +
_
C2
2rd:
We evaluate each integral separately.
1. To evaluate
_
C1
2rd:,we need to parametrize C
1
. j = r
2
can be parame-
trized by r = t, j = t
2
, 0 _ t _ 1. Thus
_
C1
2rd: =
_
1
0
2t
_
1 + 4t
2
dt
=
5
_
5 1
6
2. To evaluate
_
C2
2rd:,we need to parametrize C
2
. A vertical line between
the given points can be parametrized by r = 1, j = t, 1 _ t _ 2. Thus
_
C2
2rd: =
_
2
1
2
_
1dt
= 2
3. Therefore
_
C
2rd: =
5
_
5 1
6
+ 2
Two other integrals can be obtained using a similar technique. When we
form the sum, we can use r
i
= r
i
= r
i1
or j
i
= j
i
j
i1
instead of :
i
.
The integrals we obtain are
_
C
) (r, j) dr = lim
n!1
n

i=1
) (r

i
, j

i
) r
i
(5.4)
_
C
) (r, j) dj = lim
n!1
n

i=1
) (r

i
, j

i
) j
i
(5.5)
These are called line integrals of ) along C with respect to r and j. If r = r(t),
then dr = r
0
(t) dt. Similarly, dj = j
0
(t) dt. So, these integrals can be computed
as follows:
_
C
) (r, j) dr =
_
b
a
) (r(t) , j (t)) r
0
(t) dt (5.6)
_
C
) (r, j) dj =
_
b
a
) (r(t) , j (t)) j
0
(t) dt
270 CHAPTER 5. VECTOR CALCULUS
Remark 396 It often happens that these integrals appear together as in
_
C
1 (r, j) dr+
_
C
Q(r, j) dj. In this case, we will write
_
C
1 (r, j) dr +
_
C
Q(r, j) dj =
_
C
1 (r, j) dr +Q(r, j) dj
Remark 397 The line integral in equation 5.3 is called the line integral of )
along C with respect to arc length. The line integrals in equation 5.6 are called
line integrals of ) along C with respect to r and j.
Remark 398 As you have noticed, to evaluate a line integral, one has to rst
parametrize the curve over which we are integrating. Here are some pointers on
how to do it.
1. Circle of radius r:
Counter-clockwise: r = r cos t, j = r sint with 0 _ t _ 2.
Clockwise: r = r cos t, j = r sint with 0 _ t _ 2.
2. A curve given by a function j = ) (r): r = t, j = ) (t). For example,
j = r
2
can be parametrized by r = t, j = t
2
.
3. Vertical line through (a, /): r = a, j = t.
4. Horizontal line through (a, /): r = t, j = /.
5. Line segment between

r
0
= r
0
, j
0
, .
0
and

r
1
= r
1
, j
1
, .
1
:
Vector form:

r (t) = (1 t)

r
0
+t

r
1
, 0 _ t _ 1.
In coordinate form: r(t) = (1 t) r
0
+tr
1
, j (t) = (1 t) j
0
+tj
1
,
. (t) = (1 t) .
0
+t.
1
.
Note that it is similar in 2-D, simply drop the .coordinate.
Example 399 Evaluate
_
C
j
2
dr +rdj in each case below:
1. C is the line segment from (5, 3) to (0, 2).
2. C is the arc of the parabola r = 4 j
2
between (5, 3) and (0, 2).
Solution of 1 C can be parametrized by r = 5 (1 t) +0t = 5t 5 and
j = 3 (1 t) + 2t = 5t 3 with 0 _ t _ 1. Therefore
_
C
j
2
dr +rdj =
_
1
0
(5t 3)
2
5dt +
__
1
0
5t 5
_
5dt
= 5
_
1
0
_
25t
2
25t + 4
_
dt
=
5
6
5.2. LINE INTEGRALS 271
Solution of 2 C can be parametrized by j = t and r = 4 t
2
with
3 _ t _ 2. Therefore
_
C
j
2
dr +rdj =
_
2
3
t
2
(2t) dt +
_
4 t
2
_
dt
=
_
2
3
_
2t
3
t
2
+ 4
_
dt
=
245
6
Remark 400 In these two computations, we were evaluating the same integral,
between the same points, along dierent paths. We got dierent answers. This
indicates that the integral depends on the path chosen. We will elaborate on this
in the next section.
5.2.3 Line Integrals Along Space Curves
We can dene a similar integral if C is a space curve given by .
Denition 401 Let C be a smooth curve given by r = r(t) , j = j (t) and
. = . (t), a _ t _ /. The line integral of ) (r, j, .) along C is dened to be
_
C
) (r, j, .) d: = lim
n!1
n

i=1
) (r

i
, j

i
, .

i
) :
i
Theorem 402 The above line integral is evaluated using the formula
_
C
) (r, j, .) d: =
_
b
a
) (r(t) , j (t) , . (t)) [

r
0
(t)[ dt (5.7)
=
_
b
a
) (r(t) , j (t) , .(t)
_
_
dr
dt
_
2
+
_
dj
dt
_
2
+
_
d.
dt
_
2
dt
As before, we can dene line integrals with respect to r, j, and .. They are
evaluated as follows:
_
C
) (r, j, .) dr =
_
b
a
) (r(t) , j (t) , . (t)) r
0
(t) dt (5.8)
_
C
) (r, j, .) dj =
_
b
a
) (r(t) , j (t) , . (t)) j
0
(t) dt
_
C
) (r, j, .) dj =
_
b
a
) (r(t) , j (t) , . (t)) .
0
(t) dt
Example 403 Evaluate
_
C
j sin.d: where C is the helix given by r = cos t,
272 CHAPTER 5. VECTOR CALCULUS
j = sint, and . = t, 0 _ t _ 2.
_
C
j sin.d: =
_
2
0
sin
2
t
_
sin
2
t + cos
2
t + 1dt
=
_
2
_
2
0
sin
2
tdt
=
_
2
_
2
0
1
2
(1 cos 2t) dt
=
_
2
Summary 404 Let us recapitulate what we learned about line integrals of a
function along a curve.
1. If C is a smooth curve in the plane, then to compute
_
C
) (r, j) d:, we do
the following:
(a) Find a smooth parametrization of C, say

r (t) = r(t) , j (t), a _
t _ /.
(b) The integral is evaluated by the formula
_
C
) (r, j) d: =
_
b
a
) (r(t) , j (t))
_
_
_

r
0
(t)
_
_
_dt
2. If C is a smooth curve in space, then to compute
_
C
) (r, j, .) d:, we do
the following:
(a) Find a smooth parametrization of C, say

r (t) = r(t) , j (t) , . (t),
a _ t _ /.
(b) The integral is evaluated by the formula
_
C
) (r, j, .) d: =
_
b
a
) (r(t) , j (t) , . (t))
_
_
_

r
0
(t)
_
_
_dt
3. If C is made by joining a nite number of smooth curves end to end in
other words C = C
1
'C
2
'...C
n
then
_
C1[C2[:::Cn
) (r, j) d: =
_
C1
) (r, j) d:+
_
C2
) (r, j) d: +... +
_
Cn
) (r, j) d:.
4. If C is a plane curve and ) (r, j) _ 0 then the geometric meaning of
_
C
) (r, j) d: is the area of the curtain with base C below the graph of
. = ) (r, j).
5. Line integrals are also used in physics. An important meaning is the
following. The mass of a thin wire lying along a smooth curve C is
_
C
) (r, j, .) d: where ) (r, j, .) is the density of the wire at (r, j, .). This
formula allows us to nd the mass of a thin wire for which the density is
not constant along the wire.
5.2. LINE INTEGRALS 273
5.2.4 Line Integrals of Vector Fields
In the previous section, we learned the meaning of and how to compute line
integrals of scalar functions. We now turn to line integrals of a vector eld. We
motivate this type of integral with an application.
In physics, work is dened as a force acting upon an object to cause a dis-
placement. There are three key words in this denition - force, displacement,
and cause. In order for a force to qualify as having done work on an object,
there must be a displacement and the force must cause the displacement. There
are several good examples of work which can be observed in everyday life - a
horse pulling a plow through the elds, a father pushing a grocery cart down
the aisle of a grocery store, a freshman lifting a backpack full of books upon her
shoulder, a weight lifter lifting a barbell above her head, an Olympian launching
the shot-put, etc. In each case described here there is a force exerted upon an
object to cause that object to be displaced.
We rst remind the reader of some formulas giving the work done by a force
in simple cases. You may recall learning in a physics class that the work \
done by a variable force ) (r) moving an object from a to / along the r-axis is
given by
\ =
_
b
a
) (r) dr (5.9)
In this case, we have a variable force, along a straight line, the r-axis. Another
simple case is when we have a constant force 1 which moves an object between
two points 1 and Q in space. The work done in this case is
\ = 1

1Q (5.10)
These two cases were fairly simple. In the rst one, the motion was along the
r-axis. In the second, though the motion was in space, the force was constant.
In this section, we wish to compute the work done by a force in a more general
setting. The force will be a variable force, the object will be moving along
any smooth curve. This can happen when, for example, an object in moving
along a curve, in a vector force eld. At each point along the curve, the force
applied to an object will be given by a vector eld. In other words, suppose we
have a vector eld 1 (r, j, .) = 1 (r, j, .) , Q(r, j, .) , 1(r, j, .). We wish to
compute the work done by 1 in moving particles along a smooth curve C.
We will use a technique similar to the technique used in the previous section
when we dened line integrals. We will also use the same notation. I will not
repeat the details here. C is divided into subarcs 1
i1
1i of length :
i
. In
the i
th
subarc, we select a point 1

i
= (r

i
, j

i
, .

i
). This point corresponds to a
value of t we call t

i
. If :
i
a particle moves from 1
i1
to 1
i
in the direction of

T (t

i
), the unit tangent vector at 1

i
. Thus the work done by 1 in moving the
particle from 1
i1
to 1
i
can be approximated by
\
i
= 1 (r

i
, j

i
, .

i
) :
i

T (t

i
)
274 CHAPTER 5. VECTOR CALCULUS
So, the work done by 1 moving the particle along C can be approximated by:
\ =
n

i=1
1 (r

i
, j

i
, .

i
)

T (t

i
) :
i
As : becomes larger, this approximation becomes better. So, we can dene:
Denition 405 The work \ done by a force eld 1 (r, j, .) acting on a moving
a particle along a smooth curve C can be given by the limit of the above sum as
: . This is precisely the line integral we dened in the previous section.
Thus,
\ =
_
C
1 (r, j, .)

T (r, j, .) d:
=
_
C
1

T d:
You will recall that if the curve C is given by a position vector

r (t) then

T (t) =

r
0
(t)
[

r
0
(t)[
Also,
d: = [

r
0
(t)[ dt
Therefore

T d: =

r
0
(t)
[

r
0
(t)[
[

r
0
(t)[ dt
=

r
0
(t) dt
It follows that
\ =
_
b
a
1 (

r (t))

r
0
(t) dt
This integral is often abbreviated as
_
C
1 d

r . Keep in mind that 1 (r (t)) =
1 (r(t) , j (t) , . (t)), also d

r =

r
0
(t) dt.
Denition 406 Let 1 be a continuous vector eld dened on a smooth curve
C given by a position vector

r (t), a _ t _ /. The line integral of 1 over C is
_
C
1 d

r =
_
b
a
1 (

r (t))

r
0
(t) dt (5.11)
=
_
C
1

T d:
Remark 407 Keep in mind that 1 (

r (t)) = 1 (r(t) , j (t) , . (t)), also d

r =

r
0
(t) dt. In particular, we must use the parametrized form of C.
5.2. LINE INTEGRALS 275
Remark 408 The above formula is valid in both 2-D and 3-D.
Remark 409 There are six dierent ways to write the integral corresponding
to the work of a vector eld 1 (r, j, .) = 1 (r, j, .) , Q(r, j, .) , 1(r, j, .) over
a curve C given by

r (t) = r(t) , j (t) , . (t) for a _ t _ /. They are shown
below. Keep in mind they are dierent ways of writing the same thing.

_
C
1

T d:, the denition.

_
C
1 d

r , called the compact dierential form.

_
b
a
1 (

r (t))

r
0
(t) dt, since d

r =

r
0
(t) dt.

_
b
a
1 (r(t) , j (t) , . (t)) r
0
(t) , j
0
(t) , .
0
(t) dt, using the components of

r
0
(t).

_
b
a
[1 (r(t) , j (t) , . (t)) r
0
(t) +Q(r(t) , j (t) , . (t)) j
0
(t) +1(r(t) , j (t) , . (t)) .
0
(t)] dt,
using the components of 1.

_
C
1dr +Qdj +1d., the most common form.
Example 410 Find the work done by 1 =

j r
2
, . j
2
, r .
2
_
over the
curve

r (t) =

t, t
2
, t
3
_
from (0, 0, 0) to (1, 1, 1).
First, let us note that the two points correspond to t = 0 and t = 1. To eval-
uate the integral, we proceed as for line integrals of scalar functions. We write
everything in terms of t. Now,

r
0
(t) =

1, 2t, 3t
2
_
Also
1 (r, j, .) =

j r
2
, . j
2
, r .
2
_
=

t
2
t
2
, t
3
t
4
, t t
6
_
=

0, t
3
t
4
, t t
6
_
So
1 (r (t))

r
0
(t) =

0, t
3
t
4
, t t
6
_

1, 2t, 3t
2
_
= 2t
4
2t
5
+ 3t
3
3t
8
Hence
Work =
_
C
1

T d:
=
_
1
0
1 (r (t))

r
0
(t) dt
=
_
1
0
_
2t
4
2t
5
+ 3t
3
3t
8
_
dt
=
29
60
276 CHAPTER 5. VECTOR CALCULUS
Example 411 An object of mass : moves along the curve given by the position
vector

r (t) =

ct
2
, sin,t, cos ,t
_
, 0 _ t _ 1, c and , are constants. Find the
total force acting on the object and the work done by this force.
You will recall that Newtons second law of motion says that
1 = :a (t)
= :

r
00
(t)
And therefore, the work \ will be given by
\ =
_
1
0
:

r
00
(t)

r
0
(t) dt
from equation 5.11. Now,

r
0
(t) = 2ct, , cos ,t, , sin,t
and

r
00
(t) =

2c, ,
2
sin,t, ,
2
cos ,t
_
So that

r
00
(t)

r
0
(t) = 4c
2
t
It follows that
\ =
_
1
0
4:c
2
tdt
= 2c
2
:
Example 412 An object acted on by a force 1 (r, j) =

r
3
, j
_
moves along the
parabola j = 3r
2
from (0, 0) to (1, 3). Calculate the work done by 1.
Since the curve is not parametrized, we must do so rst. For this parabola, we
can use

r (t) = r(t) , j (t) where r = t, j = 3t
2
, 0 _ t _ 1. Now,
1 (

r (t)) = 1 (r(t) , j (t))
=

r
3
(t) , j (t)
_
=

t
3
, 3t
2
_
Also

r
0
(t) = 1, 6t
So that
1 (

r (t))

r
0
(t) = t
3
+ 18t
3
= 19t
3
It follows that
\ =
_
1
0
19t
3
dt
=
19
4
5.2. LINE INTEGRALS 277
Remark 413 (independence of the parametrization) This remark applies
to all the integrals studied in this section, that is line integrals of scalar functions
along plane or space curves as well as line integrals of vector elds. To evaluate
these integrals, one must have a parametrization of the curve involved. Since
the same curve can be parametrized dierent ways a natural question is to know
if the results depends on the parametrization. It can be proven that it does not.
Given a smooth curve and any parametrization for it, a line integral along this
curve will have a unique answer, which does not depends on the parametrization
chosen.
5.2.5 Assignment
1. Evaluate
_
C
jd: where C is the curve given by the position vector

r (t) =

t
2
, t
_
, 0 _ t _ 2.
2. Evaluate
_
C
rj
4
d: where C is the right half of the circle r
2
+j
2
= 16.
3. Evaluate
_
C
rjdr+(r j) dj where C consists of line segments from (0, 0)
to (2, 0) and from (2, 0) to (3, 2).
4. Evaluate
_
C
(rj +j +.) d: along the curve

r (t) = 2t, t, 2 2t, 0 _ t _
1.
5. Evaluate
_
C
rc
yz
d: where C is the line segment from (0, 0, 0) to (1, 2, 3).
6. Evaluate
_
C
r
2
j
_
.d. where C is the curve given by the position vector

r (t) =

t
3
, t, t
2
_
, 0 _ t _ 1.
7. Evaluate
_
C1[C2
_
r +
_
j .
2
_
d: where C
1
is given by

r
1
(t) =

t, t
2
, 0
_
,
0 _ t _ 1 and C
2
is given by

r
2
(t) = 1, 1, t, 0 _ t _ 1.
8. Find the mass of the wire that lies along the curve

r (t) =

0, t
2
1, 2t
_
,
0 _ t _ 1 if the density of the wire is given by ) (r, j, .) =
3t
2
.
9. Find the work done by 1 (r, j, .) = 3j, 2r, 4. over each path below:
(a) C
1
given by

r (t) = t, t, t, 0 _ t _ 1.
(b) C
2
given by

r (t) =

t, t
2
, t
4
_
, 0 _ t _ 1.
10. Find the work done by 1 (r, j, .) =

3r
2
3r, 3., 1
_
over each path below:
(a) C
1
given by

r (t) = t, t, t, 0 _ t _ 1.
(b) C
2
given by

r (t) =

t, t
2
, t
4
_
, 0 _ t _ 1.
11. Find the work done by 1 (r, j, .) = 2j, 3r, r +j over the curve given
by

r (t) =
_
cos t, sint,
t
6
_
, 0 _ t _ 2