Fundamental Theorem of Calculus

Contents

 The First Fundamental Theorem of

Calculus

 Second Fundamental Theorem of

Calculus

The First Fundamental Theorem of Calculus

We have learned about indefinite integrals, which was the process of finding the anti derivative of a
function. In contrast to the indefinite integral, the result of a definite integral will be a number, instead of
a function. The definite integral of a function is the signed area under the graph of the function, and is
expressed in the form of
𝒃
∫ 𝒇(𝒙)𝒅𝒙:
𝒂

Now, suppose that we formed an area function S(x) in such a way that it is dependent on the
function f(x) as
𝒙
S(x) =∫𝒂 𝒇(𝒕)𝒅𝒕,

Where f is continuous on the interval [a,b]. Now, suppose we wanted to find the rate of change of the
area with respect to x:
We can see from the figure above that the area of the shaded region is equal to the area under the f(t) from
a to x + ∆x minus the area under f(t) from a to x.
Thus,
∆𝑺 = 𝑨(𝒙 + ∆𝒙) − 𝑨(𝒙)
𝚫𝐒 𝐀(𝐱+∆𝐱)− 𝐀(𝐱)
𝚫𝐱
= ∆𝐱

So, the rate of change of area becomes

𝒅𝑺 𝑺(𝒙 + ∆𝒙) − 𝑺(𝒙)

𝑺′ (𝒙) = = 𝐥𝐢𝐦
𝒅𝒙 ∆𝒙→𝟎 ∆𝒙

We know that there is an x found between x and x + ∆x such that the area of the shaded region is equal to
f(x)∆x:

𝑺(𝒙 + ∆𝒙) − 𝑺(𝒙)

𝑺′(𝒙) = 𝐥𝐢𝐦
∆𝒙→𝟎 ∆𝒙

𝒇(𝒙)∆𝒙
= 𝐥𝐢𝐦
∆→𝟎 ∆𝒙

= 𝐥𝐢𝐦 𝒇(𝒙)
∆→𝟎

= 𝒇(𝒙)

The last step is true because, as ∆𝐱 → 𝟎, anything found between x and x + ∆x approaches x. So, now we
are ready to state the first fundamental theorem of calculus.

If f is continuous on [a,b], then the function defined by

𝒙
𝑺(𝒙) = ∫ 𝒇(𝒕)𝒅𝒕
𝒂

is continuous on [a,b] and differentiable on (a,b), and 𝐒 ′ (𝐱) = 𝐟(𝐱)

So basically integration is the opposite of differentiation. More clearly, the first fundamental theorem of
calculus can be rewritten in Leibniz notation as

𝒅 𝒙
∫ 𝒇(𝒕)𝒅𝒕 = 𝒇(𝒙)
𝒅𝒙 𝒂

EXAMPLES:
𝒙
1. Find the derivative of 𝒌(𝒙) = ∫𝟐 (𝟒𝒙 + 𝒕)𝒅𝒕
ANSWER:
The function 𝑓 is continuous, so from the first fundamental theorem of calculus we have

𝒌′ (𝒙) = 𝟒𝒙 + 𝒙.

𝒙𝟐 𝟏
2. What is the derivative of 𝒉(𝒙) = ∫𝟐 𝒅𝒕 ?
𝟏+𝒕𝟐
ANSWER:
We use the first fundamental theorem of calculus in accordance with the chain-rule to solve this.
Let 𝒖 = 𝒙𝟐 , then
𝟐
𝒅 𝒙 𝟏 𝒅 𝒖
𝟏 𝒅𝒖
∫ 𝟐
𝒅𝒕 = [∫ 𝟐
𝒅𝒕] .
𝒅𝒙 𝟐 𝟏 + 𝒕 𝒅𝒖 𝟏 𝟏 + 𝒕 𝒅𝒙
𝟏
= . 𝟐𝒙
𝟏 + 𝒖𝟐
𝟐𝒙
=
𝟏 + 𝒙𝟒

𝐱𝟐
3. Find the derivative of ∫𝟏 𝐜𝐨𝐬 𝐭 𝐝𝐭.
ANSWER:
Again, we use the chain rule along with the fundamental theorem of calculus to solve this.
Let 𝒖 = 𝒙𝟐 , then
𝒙𝟐 𝒖
𝒅 𝒅𝒖
∫ 𝐜𝐨𝐬 𝒕 𝒅𝒕 = [∫ 𝐜𝐨𝐬 𝒕 𝒅𝒕] ∙
𝟏 𝒅𝒖 𝟏 𝒅𝒙
𝒅
= 𝐜𝐨𝐬 𝒖 ∙
𝒅𝒙
= 𝐜𝐨𝐬 𝒖 ∙ 𝟐𝒙
= 𝟐𝒙 𝐜𝐨𝐬 𝒙𝟐
 𝟑𝐱
4. Find the derivative of 𝐡(𝐱) = ∫𝐛 𝐬𝐢𝐧 𝛉 𝐝𝛉.
ANSWER:
We use the following property of integrals:
𝒂 𝟎 𝒂
∫ 𝒇(𝒙) 𝒅𝒙 = ∫ 𝒇(𝒙) 𝒅𝒙 + ∫ 𝒇(𝒙) 𝒅𝒙
𝒃 𝒃 𝟎
So,
𝒙
𝒅 𝟑
′ (𝒙)
𝒉 = ∫ 𝐬𝐢𝐧 𝜽 𝒅𝜽
𝒅𝒙 𝒙
𝒅 𝟎 𝒅 𝟑𝒙
= ∫ 𝐬𝐢𝐧 𝜽 𝒅𝜽 + ∫ 𝐬𝐢𝐧 𝜽 𝒅𝜽
𝒅𝒙 𝒙 𝒅𝒙 𝟎

𝒙
𝒅 𝒅 𝟑𝒙
= − ∫ 𝐬𝐢𝐧 𝜽 𝒅𝜽 + ∫ 𝐬𝐢𝐧 𝜽 𝒅𝜽
𝒅𝒙 𝟎 𝒅𝒙 𝟎
𝒅 𝒖 𝒅𝒖
= − 𝐬𝐢𝐧 𝒙 + ∫ 𝐬𝐢𝐧 𝜽 𝒅𝜽 ∙
𝒅𝒖 𝟎 𝒅𝒙
= − 𝐬𝐢𝐧 𝒙 + 𝟑 𝐬𝐢𝐧 𝟑𝒙.

Second Fundamental Theorem of Calculus

If f is a continuous function on [a,b], then

𝒃
∫ 𝒇(𝒙)𝒅𝒙 = 𝑭(𝒃) − 𝑭(𝒂)
𝒂

where F is an anti-derivative of f, i.e. F′=f.

PROOF:
𝒙
We know from the first fundamental theorem of calculus that if 𝑺(𝒙) = ∫𝒂 𝒇(𝒕)𝒅𝒕, then S is an anti-
derivative of f or 𝑺′ (𝒙) = 𝒇(𝒙). And since 𝑭′ (𝒙) = 𝒇(𝒙),

𝑺′ (𝒙) = 𝑭′ (𝒙).

Integrating both sides with respect to x, we have

𝒙
𝑺′ (𝒙) = ∫𝒂 𝒇(𝒕)𝒅𝒕 = 𝑭(𝒙) + 𝑪 (1)

Where C is constant.

Now, plugging in 𝐱 = 𝐚 in the equation, we have

𝒂
𝑺(𝒂) = ∫ 𝒇(𝒕)𝒅𝒕 = 𝑭(𝒂) + 𝑪
𝒂
 𝒂
By definition, 𝑺(𝒂) = ∫𝒂 𝒇(𝒕)𝒅𝒕 = 𝟎, and hence,

𝑭(𝒂) + 𝑪 = 𝟎
⟹ 𝑪 = −𝑭(𝒂)

Plugging in C=−F(a) back in the equation (1), we have

𝒃
𝑺(𝒙) = ∫ 𝒇(𝒕)𝒅𝒕 = 𝑭(𝒙) − 𝑭(𝒂)
𝒂

Finally, setting x=b, we have

𝒃
𝑺(𝒃) = ∫ 𝒇(𝒕)𝒅𝒕 = 𝑭(𝒃) − 𝑭(𝒂)
𝒂
𝒃
⇒ ∫ 𝒇(𝒙)𝒅𝒙 = 𝑭(𝒃) − 𝑭(𝒂)
𝒂

We could also prove the above theorem using the concept of Riemann sums.
𝒙
We know from the first fundamental theorem of calculus that if 𝑺(𝒙) = ∫𝒂 𝒇(𝒕)𝒅𝒕, then 𝑺 is anti-
derivative of 𝑓 𝑜𝑟 𝑺′ (𝒙) = 𝒇(𝒙). So we know that 𝒇(𝒙) = 𝑭′ (𝒙). Consider a partition 𝑃 = {𝑎 = 𝑥0 <
𝑥1 < 𝑥2 < ⋯ < 𝑥𝑛 = 𝐵}. With this partition as reference, we can write

𝑭(𝒃) − 𝑭(𝒂) = ∑𝒏−𝟏

𝒊=𝟎 [𝑭(𝒙𝒊+𝟏 ) − 𝑭(𝒙𝒊) ].

This is now the neater part of the proof. ∀i =0,1,2,…,n −1 ∃ti ∈ (xi,xi+1) such that 𝑭(𝒙𝒊 + 𝟏) − 𝑭(𝒙𝒊 ) =
𝑭′ (𝒕𝒊 )(𝒙𝒊+𝟏 − 𝒙𝒊 ) = 𝒇(𝒕𝒊 )(𝒙𝟏+𝟏 − 𝒙𝒊 ). This is direct implication of the mean value theorem. So now
what we have is
𝒏−𝟏

𝑭(𝒃) − 𝑭(𝒂) = ∑ 𝒇(𝒕𝒊 )(𝒙𝒊+𝟏 − 𝒙𝒊 ); 𝒕𝒊 ∈ (𝒙𝒊, 𝒙𝒊 + 𝟏)

𝒊=𝟎

The right-hand side of the expression is nothing but the Riemann sum which will eventually converge to
definite integral as the partition P gets finer and finer:
𝒃
𝑭(𝒃) − 𝑭(𝒂) = ∫ 𝒇(𝒕)𝒅𝒕.
𝒂

This theorem transforms the difficult problem of evaluating definite integrals by calculating
limits of sums, into an easier problem of finding an anti-derivative. So for example if we are
𝒃
asked to compute the integral ∫𝒂 (𝒙)𝒅𝒙, we find an anti-derivative of F(x) and compute their value
at each end-point of the integral, and finally subtract them from each other.
EXAMPLES:
𝟏
1. Evaluate ∫𝟎 𝒙𝟐 𝒅𝒙
ANSWER:
According to the fundamental theorem of calculus, we have
𝟏
∫ 𝒙𝟐 𝒅𝒙 = 𝑭(𝟏) − 𝑭(𝟎)
𝟎
Where F(x) is an anti-derivative of. x2. Indefinite integration of x2 gives

𝟏
𝟏 𝟑
∫ 𝒙𝟐 𝒅𝒙 = 𝒙 + 𝑪.
𝟎 𝟑
Where C is the constant of integration.
Hence we have
𝟏 𝟏 𝟏
𝑭(𝟏) − 𝑭(𝟎) = ( × 𝟏𝟑 + 𝑪) − ( × 𝟎 + 𝑪) =
𝟑 𝟑 𝟑.
Observe that the constant of integration C can be ignored since it is to be eliminated regardless of
its value.

2. Find the area under the curve 𝒚 = 𝒙𝟑 + 𝟏 from 𝒙 = −𝟏 to 𝒙 = 𝟏.

ANSWER:
Since 𝒙𝟑 + 𝟏 ≥ 𝟎 over interval [−𝟏, 𝟏], the area under the curve 𝒚 = 𝒙𝟑 + 𝟏 from 𝒙 = −𝟏 to
𝟏 𝟏
𝒙 = 𝟏 is equal to ∫−𝟏(𝒙𝟑 + 𝟏) 𝒅𝒙. Since 𝟒 𝒙𝟒 + 𝒙 is an anti derivative of 𝒙𝟑 + 𝟏, the area under
the curve is
𝟏 𝟏
∫−𝟏(𝐱 𝟑 + 𝟏)𝐝𝐱 = [𝟒 𝐱 𝟒 + 𝐱]1-1
𝟏 𝟏
= ( ∙ 𝟏𝟒 + 𝟏) − ( ∙ (−𝟏)𝟒 + (−𝟏))
𝟒 𝟒
𝟓 𝟑
= − (− )
𝟒 𝟒

= 𝟐.
3.

What is the area of the shaded region in the above figure?

ANSWER:
𝟏 𝟏 𝟓 𝟏
We need to find the area under the curve 𝒚 = from 𝒙 = to 𝒙 = . Since ∫ 𝒅𝒙 = 𝑰𝒏𝒙 + 𝑪, the
𝒙 𝟐 𝟐 𝒙
area under the curve is equal to

𝟓
𝟓
𝟐𝟏
∫ 𝒅𝒙 = [𝑰𝒏𝒙]𝟐𝟏
𝟏 𝒙 𝟐
𝟐

𝟓 𝟏
= 𝑰𝒏 − 𝑰𝒏
𝟐 𝟐

= 𝑰𝒏𝟓.