2. Integral Calculus Who needs it!
(What is it good for?)
Examples from physics:
Displacement = Velocity x Time
1. If you are traveling at 60mph, how far do you travel in 2 hours?
Sketch a velocitytime graph to illustrate this distance.
2. From a stop light, you accelerate at a constant rate to 60 mph in 10 seconds.
How far have you traveled? Sketch a velocitytime graph to illustrate this distance.
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3. Work = Force x Displacement
1. How much work is done by a weightlifter to raise a 500 lb. barbell 8 ft. in the air ?
Sketch a forcedisplacement graph to illustrate the work done by the weightlifter.
Use the vertical axis for force and the horizontal axis as displacement.
Note: The force due to the gravitational pull of the earth is defined to be the weight of an object: Fgrav = weight.
What do these 3 examples have in common?
(Why is there no need for integral calculus to answer these 3 questions?)
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6. Displacement = velocity x time
If the velocity throughout the time interval dt
isessentially constant at v(t), and the length
of time is dt, then D = v(t) x dt
Both f(x) and dx have physical meanings.
The dx is the infinitesimal time interval (base of rectangle),
and f(x) is the velocity during that time interval (height of
rectangle.)
Any Riemann sum Rn will be bounded above by
the Upper sum, Un and bounded below by the
lower sum, Ln: Ln ≤ Rn ≤ Un. Taking the limit
of Ln and Un, as the number of rectangles increases
without bound, Rn will be squeezed between
the limits of Ln and Un.
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