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The integral of y with respect to x is \displaystyle \int y \, dx .
When definite integration is used to find areas, notation like \displaystyle \int_a^b y \, dx is used where the a and b denote the lower and upper limits of the integration.

You must understand clearly how integral notation works. When doing definite integration, use the notation as accurately as you can, including the use of different styles of brackets.

Summary/Background

 A note about graphic calculatorsA graphic calculator, for example the TI-83 or similar model, can work out definite integrals for you. First use the Y= screen to enter a function, such as -X²+9x-14Use ZOOM 6 to get a good display of the curve.Select 2nd CALC option 7.Enter the lower and upper limits of the integration as requested on the screen.

You can get a better display of the maths by downloading special TeX fonts from jsMath. In the meantime, we will do the best we can with the fonts you have, but it may not be pretty and some equations may not be rendered correctly.

Glossary

function

A rule that connects one value in one set with one and only one value in another set.

integral

the anti-derivative

integration

the process of finding an integral, the reverse process to differentiation.

union

The union of two sets A and B is the set containing all the elements of A and B.

work

Equal to F x s, where F is the force in Newtons and s is the distance travelled and is measured in Joules.

Full Glossary List