2.

4 Fundamental Concepts of
Integral Calculus
(Calc II Review)

Integral and Derivative Are

Complements
Derivative: Give me distance and time,
and Ill give you velocity (speed, rate)
Integral: Give me velocity and time, and
Ill give you distance

Distance = Velocity x Time ;

Area = Width x Height
From algebra, we know that d = v t
From geometry, we know that rectangular
area A = w h

d
t

A
w

Changing Velocity as a
Sequence of Rectangles

v2

v3

v4

v5

v6
Total distance =
d1 + d2 + d3 + d4 +
d5 + d6

v1
d1

d2

d3

d4

t1

t2

t3

t4

d5 d6
t5

t6

Estimating Area Under Points

What if instead of rectangles, we were given
points: how could we use rectangles to estimate
area under points?

Underestimating Area
Here we underestimate the area by putting left
corners at points:

Overestimating Area
Here we overestimate the area by putting right
corners at points:

Left- and Right-Hand Sums

As with derivative, we can replace
(t2-t1), (t3-t2), etc., with a general t.
v with a function f(t)

So for n time values

left-hand-sum (underestimate) is
f(t0)t + f(t1)t + f(t2)t + + f(tn-1)t
right-hand-sum (overestimate) is
f(t1)t + f(t2)t + f(t3)t + + f(tn)t

Definite Integral
Lets say that t goes from a starting value a to an ending
value b.
As t gets smaller, we have more points n and a smaller
difference between left- and right-hand sums.
In the limit, this gives us the definite integral.

a f(t) dt =

lim (f(t0)t + f(t1)t + + f(tn-1)t )

= lim (f(t1)t + f(t2)t + + f(tn)t )

n

Total Change
b

a F(t) dt =

total change in F(t)

from t = a to t = b

) = F(b) - F(a)

In other words: If F is the derivative of F, we

can compute the integral (total change) from a
to be by plugging in these values to F and taking
the difference.

Computational Science vs.

Calculus
Calculus tells you how to compute precise integrals
& derivatives when you know the equation
(analytical form) for a problem; e.g., for indefinite
integral:

(-t2 + 10t + 24) dt =

+-t35 t2 + 24t + C

3
Computational science provides methods for
estimating integrals and derivatives from actual
data.