Scribd
Upload
48 views

Lesson6A 040 Arc Length of A Plane Curve v1

This document provides an overview of calculating the arc length of a plane curve. It defines arc length as the length of a curve between two points on the curve. It derives a formula for calculating arc length when the curve is defined as a function of x and its derivative is continuous over the interval. The formula is the definite integral of the square root of 1 plus the derivative squared, between the two points. It provides examples calculating arc lengths of various curves using this formula.

Uploaded by

saiga12simp
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
48 views

Lesson6A 040 Arc Length of A Plane Curve v1

This document provides an overview of calculating the arc length of a plane curve. It defines arc length as the length of a curve between two points on the curve. It derives a formula for calculating arc length when the curve is defined as a function of x and its derivative is continuous over the interval. The formula is the definite integral of the square root of 1 plus the derivative squared, between the two points. It provides examples calculating arc lengths of various curves using this formula.

Uploaded by

saiga12simp
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 18

MAT040

Lesson 6 : Arc Length of a Plane Curve

and Center of Mass


6A: Arc Length of a Plane Curve

MA. CRISTINA DUYAGUIT


Department of Mathematics and Statistics, CSM
Arc Length of a Plane Curve
Let the function be continuous on the closed interval and consider the
graph of this function defined by the equation , of which a sketch appears
in Figure 6.1.

Figure 6.1

Department of Mathematics and Statistics 1


Arc Length of a Plane Curve
The portion of the curve from the point to the point is called an arc. We
wish to assign a number to what we intuitively think of as the length of
such an arc. If the arc is a line segment from the point to the point we
know from the formula for the distance between two points that its length
is given by . We use this formula for defining the length of an arc in
general.
Let be a partition of the closed interval formed by dividing the interval
into subintervals by choosing any intermediate numbers between and .
Let and , and let be the intermediate numbers so that . Then the
subinterval is ; its length, denoted by , is

Department of Mathematics and Statistics 2


Arc Length of a Plane Curve
where . Then if is the norm of the partition , each .
Associated with each point on the axis is point on the curve. Draw a line
segment from each point to the next point , as shown in Figure 6.2.

Figure 6.2

Department of Mathematics and Statistics 3


Arc Length of a Plane Curve

The length of the line segment from to is denoted by and is given by the
distance formula
(1)

The sum of the lengths of the line segments is

which can be written with sigma notation as


(2)

Department of Mathematics and Statistics 4


Arc Length of a Plane Curve
Definition 6.1:
Suppose the function is continuous on the closed interval . Further
suppose that there exists a number having the following property:
For any there is a such that for every partition of the interval it
is true that
if then
Then we write
(3)

and is called the length of arc of the curve from the point to the point .

Department of Mathematics and Statistics 5


Arc Length of a Plane Curve
If the limit in (3) exists, the arc is said to be rectifiable. We now derive a
formula for finding the length of an arc that is rectifiable. The derivation
requires that the derivative of be continuous on ; such a function is said
to be smooth on .

Figure 6.3
Department of Mathematics and Statistics 6
Arc Length of a Plane Curve
Refer to Figure 6.3. If has coordinates and has coordinates , then the
length of the chord is given by formula (1).
Letting and we have

or equivalently, because ,
(4)
Because we required that be continuous on , the hypothesis of
the mean-value theorem is satisfied by ; so there is a number in the open
interval such that

Department of Mathematics and Statistics 7


Arc Length of a Plane Curve

Because and , from the above equation we have

Substituting from this equation into (4) we get

For each from 1 to there is an equation of this form, so that

Department of Mathematics and Statistics 8


Arc Length of a Plane Curve
Taking the limit on both sides of this equation as approaches zero we
obtain
(5)
if this limit exists.
To show that the limit on the right side of (5) exists, let be the function
defined by

Because we are requiring to be continuous on , is continuous on .


Since , for , on the right side of (5) we have the limit of a Riemann sum
which is a definite integral. Therefore from (5)

Department of Mathematics and Statistics 9


Arc Length of a Plane Curve
From (3) the left side is ; therefore

In this way, the following theorem is proved:

Theorem 6.1:
If the function and its derivative are continuous on the closed interval ,
then the length of arc of the curve from the point to the point is given by

Department of Mathematics and Statistics 10


Arc Length of a Plane Curve
The following theorem, which gives the length of arc of a curve when is
expressed as a function of , follows from the above theorem by
interchanging and as well as the functions and .

Theorem 6.2: If the function and its derivative are continuous on the
closed interval , then the length of arc of the curve from the point to the
point is given by

Department of Mathematics and Statistics 11


Arc Length of a Plane Curve
Example 6.1: Find the length of an arc of the curve from the point to by
using Theorem 6.1.
Solution. See Figure 6.4.

Figure 6.4
Department of Mathematics and Statistics 12
Arc Length of a Plane Curve
Because . From Theorem 6.1,

To evaluate this definite integral let ; then . When , ; when , .

Department of Mathematics and Statistics 13


Arc Length of a Plane Curve

Therefore,

Department of Mathematics and Statistics 14


Arc Length of a Plane Curve
Example 6.2: Find the length of arc in Example 6.1 by using Theorem
6.2.
Solution. Because and , we solve for and get .
Letting we have . Then, from Theorem 6.2,

Department of Mathematics and Statistics 15


Arc Length of a Plane Curve
Exercise 6.1
1. Find the length of arc of the curve , from the point where to the point
where .
2. Find the length of the arc of the curve from the point where to the
point where .
3. Find the length of the arc of the curve of from the point where to the
point where .
4. Find the length of the arc of the curve in the first quadrant from the
point where to the point where .
5. Find the length of arc of the curve from to .

Department of Mathematics and Statistics 16


References:

· Canoy, Sergio, Jr., et al. A First Course in Analytic Geometry and Calculus. Revised Edition.
Department of Mathematics, MSU-IIT. 2010.

· Leithold, I. (1996). The Calculus 7. HarpenCollins College Publishing.

· Leithold, Louis. The Calculus with Analytic Geometry, 7th edition, 1995.

· Mendelson, Elliott. 3,000 Solved Problems in Calculus. Mc-Graw Hill, 1988.

· Protter, M &Protter, P. (1988). Calculus with Analytical Geometry. Boston: Jones and Bartlett Publisher.

· Protter, Murray H. and Morrey, Charles B. Calculus with Analytic Geometry. Addison-Wesley
Educational Publishers Inc., 1971.

· Purcell, E. & Patterson, R. (1978). Calculus with Analytic Geometry. Prentice-Hall.

You might also like