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Arc Length
In this section we are going to look at computing the arc length of a function. Because its easy enough to
derive the formulas that well use in this section we will derive one of them and leave the other to you to
derive.
We want to determine the length of the continuous function on the interval . Initially well need
to estimate the length of the curve. Well do this by dividing the interval up into n equal subintervals each of
width and well denote the point on the curve at each point by P
i
. We can then approximate the curve by
a series of straight lines connecting the points. Here is a sketch of this situation for .
Now denote the length of each of these line segments by and the length of the curve will then be
approximately,
and we can get the exact length by taking n larger and larger. In other words, the exact length will be,
Now, lets get a better grasp on the length of each of these line segments. First, on each segment lets define
. We can then compute directly the length of the line segments as follows.

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By the Mean Value Theorem we know that on the interval there is a point so that,
Therefore, the length can now be written as,
The exact length of the curve is then,
However, using the definition of the definite integral, this is nothing more than,
A slightly more convenient notation (in my opinion anyway) is the following.
In a similar fashion we can also derive a formula for on . This formula is,
Again, the second form is probably a little more convenient.
Note the difference in the derivative under the square root! Dont get too confused. With one we
differentiate with respect to x and with the other we differentiate with respect to y. One way to keep the two
straight is to notice that the differential in the denominator of the derivative will match up with the differential
in the integral. This is one of the reasons why the second form is a little more convenient.
Before we work any examples we need to make a small change in notation. Instead of having two formulas
for the arc length of a function we are going to reduce it, in part, to a single formula.
From this point on we are going to use the following formula for the length of the curve.
Arc Length Formula(s)
where,
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Note that no limits were put on the integral as the limits will depend upon the ds that were using. Using the
first ds will require x limits of integration and using the second ds will require y limits of integration.
Thinking of the arc length formula as a single integral with different ways to define ds will be convenient when
we run across arc lengths in future sections. Also, this ds notation will be a nice notation for the next section
as well.
Now that weve derived the arc length formula lets work some examples.
Example 1 Determine the length of between .
Solution
In this case well need to use the first ds since the function is in the form . So, lets get the
derivative out of the way.
Lets also get the root out of the way since there is often simplification that can be done and theres no
reason to do that inside the integral.
Note that we could drop the absolute value bars here since secant is positive in the range given.
The arc length is then,
Example 2 Determine the length of between .
Solution
There is a very common mistake that students make in problems of this type. Many students see that the
function is in the form and they immediately decide that it will be too difficult to work with it in that
form so they solve for y to get the function into the form . While that can be done here it will lead
to a messier integral for us to deal with.
Sometimes its just easier to work with functions in the form . In fact, if you can work with
functions in the form then you can work with functions in the form . There really isnt a
difference between the two so dont get excited about functions in the form .
Lets compute the derivative and the root.
As you can see keeping the function in the form is going to lead to a very easy integral. To see
what would happen if we tried to work with the function in the form see the next example.
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As noted in the last example we really do have a choice as to which ds we use. Provided we can get the
function in the form required for a particular ds we can use it. However, as also noted above, there will often
be a significant difference in difficulty in the resulting integrals. Lets take a quick look at what would happen
in the previous example if we did put the function into the form .
Example 3 Redo the previous example using the function in the form instead.
Solution
In this case the function and its derivative would be,
The root in the arc length formula would then be.
All the simplification work above was just to put the root into a form that will allow us to do the integral.
Now, before we write down the integral well also need to determine the limits. This particular ds requires
x limits of integration and weve got y limits. They are easy enough to get however. Since we know x as a
function of y all we need to do is plug in the original y limits of integration and get the x limits of integration.
Doing this gives,
Not easy limits to deal with, but there they are.
Lets now write down the integral that will give the length.
Thats a really unpleasant looking integral. It can be evaluated however using the following substitution.
Using this substitution the integral becomes,
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So, we got the same answer as in the previous example. Although that shouldnt really be all that surprising
since we were dealing with the same curve.
From a technical standpoint the integral in the previous example was not that difficult. It was just a Calculus I
substitution. However, from a practical standpoint the integral was significantly more difficult than the integral
we evaluated in Example 2. So, the moral of the story here is that we can use either formula (provided we
can get the function in the correct form of course) however one will often be significantly easier to actually
evaluate.
Okay, lets work one more example.
Example 4 Determine the length of for . Assume that y is positive.
Solution
Well use the second ds for this one as the function is already in the correct form for that one. Also, the
other ds would again lead to a particularly difficult integral. The derivative and root will then be,
Before writing down the length notice that we were given x limits and we will need y limits for this ds. With
the assumption that y is positive these are easy enough to get. All we need to do is plug x into our equation
and solve for y. Doing this gives,
The integral for the arc length is then,
This integral will require the following trig substitution.
The length is then,