How is the definite integral obtained from the limit of the rectangular sum?
Conditions
- The function is Riemann integrable on .
- The partition is uniform with subintervals.
- The limit is taken as .
Reasoning, step by step
- Start with the finite Riemann sum .
- Apply the limit operation to the sum.
- Observe that the mesh size tends to zero.
- Recognize that the limit of the sum represents the exact area under the curve.
- Denote this limit as the definite integral .
Example
The video writes , explaining that letting the number of divisions approach infinity makes the width of each small rectangle approach zero, and the limit of the rectangular sum is the exact value of the area under the curve.
Common misconceptions
- Thinking that the integral is simply the sum for a very large , rather than the limit.
- Confusing the differential with the finite width ; represents the infinitesimal limit of .
- Assuming the limit always exists without checking integrability conditions.
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