Integrals are mathematical tools that allow us to calculate the total accumulation of a quantity over a range or find the area under a curve. They do this by dividing the quantity into infinitesimally small parts and adding them together. Specifically, integrals are used to find the area under a curve, relate velocity to displacement, calculate volumes of 3D objects, find critical points in optimization problems, calculate probabilities and expected values in statistics, and have many real-world applications like determining fluid flow and signal processing.