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Integrating Equations 8–1
8
Integrating Equations
Many problems in mathematics, science, and engineering require calculating the
definite integral of a function. If the function is denoted by
f(x) and the interval of
integration is a to b, then the integral can be expressed mathematically as
³
=
b
a
dx(x)fI
f (x)
b
x
a
I
The quantity I can be interpreted geometrically as the area of a region bounded by
the graph of the function f(x), the x–axis, and the limits x = a and x = b (provided
that
f(x) is nonnegative throughout the interval of integration).
The

operation (
³
FN) integrates the current equation with respect to a
specified variable (
³

d_). The function may have more than one variable.

works only with real numbers.