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2-2 Applications

The document is a worksheet for a Calculus 2 course at National Taiwan University, focusing on applications of integration, particularly arc length, average value, and center of mass. It includes formulas for calculating arc length and average value, as well as several exercises for students to practice these concepts. Additionally, it presents the Mean Value Theorem for Integrals and encourages geometric interpretation of the results.

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5 views

2-2 Applications

The document is a worksheet for a Calculus 2 course at National Taiwan University, focusing on applications of integration, particularly arc length, average value, and center of mass. It includes formulas for calculating arc length and average value, as well as several exercises for students to practice these concepts. Additionally, it presents the Mean Value Theorem for Integrals and encourages geometric interpretation of the results.

Uploaded by

hazooochung
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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National Taiwan University - Calculus 2 for Class 01-09 (Year 113)

Worksheet 2 : Applications of Integration

Name: ID: Department:

Arc Length.
The concepts of the method of Riemann Sum and integration are both directed at measuring total accumulation.
The length of a curve can be described as the total length of a combination of short curves. Any smooth curve that
p
is short enough would look like a line segment, and the length would be approximately (dx)2 + (dy)2 . Thus we
can get an arc length formula if we integrate the expression.

The Arc Length Formula for Graphs: Consider the graph y = f (x). If f ′ is continuous on the closed interval [a, b],
then the length of y = f (x), a ≤ x ≤ b, is
s 2
Z b Z b 
p dy
L= 1+ [f ′ (x)]2 dx = 1+ dx.
a a dx
A further application of the arc length formula lies in the arc length function defined by
Z xp
s(x) = 1 + [f ′ (t)]2 dt.
a
The length function is useful in finding out the exact point you would arrive at after travelling for a fixed distance.

Exercise 1. Find the exact length of the curve


x3 1
y= + , 1 ≤ x ≤ 2.
3 4x

1
Exercise 2. Find the exact length of the curve

y = ex , 0 ≤ x ≤ 1.

Exercise 3. Consider the curve


2√ 3
y= x , 1 ≤ x ≤ 4.
3
(a) Find the exact length.
(b) Find the length function s(x). Does it have an inverse?
(c) Find an interval for x where the exact length of the corresponding curve is equal to 1.

2
Average Value and Center of Mass.
Finding the average value of a function is a natural topic in many real world scenarios. It is important to remember
that a clear domain must be given before an average can be computed.

The average value of the function f over the interval [a, b] is


Z b
1
f (x) dx.
b−a a

The center of mass of an object with a given density function is the average position of all point masses. We treat
the whole object as a system and we use the moment of the system about the origin to find the center of mass. For
a pipe-like object that covers the interval [a, b] of a given density ρ(x), the mass equals
Z b
m= ρ(x) dx
a
and the position of its center of mass equals
Z b
1
x= xρ(x) dx.
m a

Exercise 4.
(a) Find the average value of f (x) = 25 − x2 on the interval [0, 2].
(b) Find all values of c in the interval [0, 2] such that f (c) is equal to the average value.

3
1
Exercise 5. Find the mass and the center of mass of a thin steel pipe with density function ρ(x) = over the
√ 1 + x2
interval [0, 3].

Exercise 6. (Optional) Prove the Mean Value Theorem for Integrals : if f is continuous on [a, b], then there exists
c in [a, b] such that
Z b
1
f (x) dx = f (c).
b−a a
Interpret this result geometrically.

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