National Taiwan University - Calculus 2 for Class 01-09

Worksheet 2 : Applications of Integration

Name: 許⼦謙 ID: B 12901018 Department: EE

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 0 is continuous on the closed interval [a, b],
then the length of y = f (x), a  x  b, is
s 
Z b p Z b 2
dy
L= 1+ [f 0 (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 0 (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

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Exercise 2. Find the exact length of the curve

y = ex , 0  x  1.

Exercise 3. Consider the curve

2p 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 ⇢(x), the mass equals
Z b
m= ⇢(x) dx
a
and the position of its center of mass equals
Z b
1
x= x⇢(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 steel pipe with density function ⇢(x) = over the
p 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.