Phys112 - Integration

Line Integrals
Prof. Viktor Tsepelin
Contact me via e-mail [[email protected]
[[email protected]]] or Teams chat

Department of Physics, Lancaster University, Office: A059

Michaelmas Term 2023

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Line integrals - Openstax Calculus 3.6.2
An example of a line integral is integration of the function (sum of its values) in a plane along
some path:

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Line integrals - Openstax Calculus 3.6.2
Imagine Lancaster introduces a congestion charge: charge is per metre for the distance you
travel within the congestion zone; Different charging levels in the congestion zone; Pathways of
zero-charge to allow access to the hospital.

How would we work out how much to charge for each journey?

First need to consider the path (line) taken by the vehicle

Find the values of the congestion charge at each point along

the line.

Work out the cost for a little element of the line (length of the
element) times (charge for that point on the map)

Add all these charges together

If we then take the limit as the length of the element shrinks to

zero, this becomes an integral.
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Examples of the use of Line integrals in Physics

mass of a wire;

centre of mass and moments of inertia of a wire;

work done by a force on an object moving in a vector

field;

magnetic field around a conductor (Ampere's Law);

voltage generated in a loop (Faraday's Law of

magnetic induction).

action in classical physics

path integrals in quantum mechanics

The last three are usually examples of vector calculus, which you will cover later in the year.

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Definition of Line integrals
Let f (x, y) and g(x, y) be single valued functions of x, y defined
in the plane (x, y), and let (AB) be a curve starting at A and
ending at B.

Let δx be a small change in x going along (AB) and δy be a

small change in y going along (AB).

Our aim is to calculate

I = lim ∑ (f (x, y)δx + g(x, y)δy)

δx→0
(AB)
δy→0

So, we can write

I = ∫ (f (x, y)dx + g(x, y)dy) ,

(AB)

which is a line integral. 5 / 17

Line integrals

But we need to take a little caution. For the 'ordinary' integrals we

have met so far, the δxi are either all positive or all negative. Here
the δx and δy can be either negative or positive, depending on
where you are along the path (AB), which can 'double back' on
itself.

There are two ways to calculate a line integral.

Break it up into segments for which the signs of δx and δy are

consistent, and integrate over each segment as an ordinary
integral and add up the results.

Parameterise the curve with a variable t and change the

integration variable of t.

In general we use the second method because it is usually the

most efficient.
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Example: W = ∫
path
(xy dx − y
2
dy)

Consider W from (0,0) to (2,1) along

2
= ∫ (xy dx − y dy)
path

the various paths in x, y plane.

Regardless of the path chosen we must transform our

integrand into a function of one variable.

The integral should only contain x, y or a parameter (for

example t) that describes both of them. Sometimes
parametrisation equations are given, while in other cases, they
could be worked from the shape of the path.

Functions in front of dx and dy are different and given. They

are independent of the path considered.

In general x and y can correspond almost to anything, for

example money and time.
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Example: W = ∫
path
(xy dx − y
2
dy) - path 1

1x ). The straight line corresponds to y =

1

2
x , hence
dy =
1

2
dx .

2
W = ∫ (x y dx − y dy ) =
1
  
x 2 1
x dx
2 2
4

x=2 2 3
2 2
x x 1 3 3 x
2 ∣
= ∫ x dx − ( ) dx = ∫ x dx = = 1
∣
2 2 2 8 8 3 0
x=0 0

1y ). Alternatively, x = 2y and dx = 2dy .

y=1
1
2 2 3∣
W = ∫ ( x y dx − y dy) = ∫ 3y dy = y = 1
  ∣
0
1 y=0
2y 2dy

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Example: W = ∫
path
(xy dx − y
2
dy) - path 2

2x ). The parabola is y =
1

4
x
2
, hence dy =
1

2
xdx :

x=2 2 4
x x x
2
W = ∫ (x y dx − y dy ) = ∫ (x − ) dx =
   4 16 2
2 x=0
x
2 4
x x dx
2
4 16

x=2 3 5 4 6
x x x 2 x 2 2
∣ ∣
= ∫ ( − ) dx = − =
∣ ∣
4 32 4 ⋅ 4 0 32 ⋅ 6 0 3
x=0

2y ). Alternatively x = 2y
1/2
, hence dx = y
−1/2
dy :

y=1

2
2 2
W = ∫ ( x y dx − y dy) = ∫ (2y − y ) dy =
  3
2
1/2 −1/2
2y y dy y=0

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Example: W = ∫
path
(xy dx − y
2
dy) - path 3

3). The path 3 is parametrised, where x and y are described

via a parameter t: x = 2t3 , y = t2 .

Hence dx = 6t
2
,
dt dy = 2t dt .

Parameter t changes from 0 to 1, which can be verified by

evaluating the range of x and y.
4
t t=1
2 2tdt
t  

2 3 2 2 4
W = ∫ ( x y dx − y dy ) = ∫ (2t t 6t − t 2t) dt =
 
3
3 2
2t 6t dt t=0

1
12 1 2 1 3 1 7
7 5 8∣ 6∣
= ∫ (12t − 2t ) dt = t − t = − =
∣ ∣
8 0 6 0 2 3 6
0

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Parametric representation of a curve (AB)
A parametric representation of a curve (AB) on the (x, y) plane is a pair of functions x(t) and
y(t), where:

x = x(t), y = y(t), tA ⩽ t ⩽ tB

where t is always increasing as the curve (AB) is traced out; the point A is at (x(tA ), y(tA ))
and the point B is at (x(tB ), y(tB )).

To integrate over a parameterised curve, we change the integration variables to t.

tB

dx dy
∫ [f (x, y)dx + g(x, y)dy] = ∫ [f (x(t), y(t)) + g(x(t), y(t)) ] dt
dt dt
(AB) tA

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Examples of parametrisation: ∫(AB) xdy

Evaluate ∫ xdy , provided A is at (1, 0), B is at (−1, 0)

(AB)

and curve (AB) is parametrised as x ,

= cos (t) y = sin (t) ,
0 ≤ t ≤ π.

t=π
dy
∫ xdy = ∫ x(t) dt =
(AB) t=0  dt

cos (t)
cos (t)

π π
1 1
2
= ∫ cos (t)dt = ∫ (1 + cos (2t)) dt = π
2 2
0 0

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Examples of parametrisation: ∫(AB) y 2 dx

Evaluate ∫ 2
y dx , provided A is at (0, 1); B is at (2, 1)
(AB)

and curve (AB) is parametrised as x ,

= t + 1 y = t
2
,
−1 ≤ t ≤ 1

t=1

2 2
dx
∫ y dx = ∫ y (t) dt =
(AB) t=−1  dt

4
t
1

1
1 1 2
4 5∣
= ∫ t dt = t =
∣
−1
5 −1 5

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Line integral - Length of a curve

If (AB) is a curve in the (x, y) plane, we can calculate the length

of (AB) by breaking it up into little segments of length δl and add
all the δl values:

Length of (AB) = lim ∑ δl

δl→0
(AB)

By Pythagoras' theorem: δl = √(δx)2 + (δy)2 , where δx is the

change in x along each segment; δy is the change in y

So, the length of (AB) is

2 2
lim ∑ √(δx) + (δy)
δx→0
(AB)
δy→0

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Length of a parameterised curve
Parametrise (AB) by t, as x = x(t), y = y(t), tA ≤ t ≤ tB :

Length of

2 2 tB 2 2
⎛ δx δy ⎞ dx dy
(AB) = lim ∑ √( ) + ( ) δt = ∫ √( ) + ( ) dt
δx,δy→0 ⎝ δt δt ⎠ tA
dt dt
δl→0

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Length of a curve: x = cos (t), y = sin (t), 0 ⩽ t ⩽ π

Find the length of a curve between A is at (1, 0) and B is at

(−1, 0) provided the curve is given by x = cos (t),

y = sin (t), where 0 ⩽ t ⩽ π.

tB  2 2
 dx dy
L(AB) = ∫ ( ) + ( ) dt =
 dt dt
tA

 
⎷ 2 2
sin (t) cos (t)

π π
π
2 2
√sin (t) + cos (t) dt = ∫ ∣
= ∫ dt = t = π
∣
0
0 0

This is expected length for a perimeter of a half circle with a

radius equal to 1.

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Length of a curve: x = t + 1, y = t ,
2
− 1 ≤ t ≤ 1

Find the length of a curve between A at (0, 1) and B at (2, 1)

provided the curve is given by x = t + 1, y = t2 where
−1 ≤ t ≤ 1.

tB  2 2
 dx dy
L(AB) = ∫ ( ) + ( ) dt =
 dt dt
tA

 
⎷ 2
1 (2t)

1
1
2
= ∫ √1 + 4t dt = √5 + arcsinh(2) D.I.Y.
2
−1

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