Integration · Lesson 3 of 4 · ~6 min

The fundamental theorem

Predict

The bottom curve $F$ is the running total of the top curve $f$. Pick any $x$. The slope of $F$ at that $x$ — where can you read it off the $f$ graph?

Hold that thought. Drag probe x and compare the top bar with the bottom tangent.
Try
Try itDrag probe x across $[0, 5]$. The top panel raises a bar of height $f(x)$; the bottom lays a tangent on $F$ at the same $x$. Watch the f(x) height and F′(x) slope stats.
Notice

At $x = 1.57$ the bar reads $2.200$ and the tangent slope $2.200$ — rise $2.20$ over run $1$. At $x = 4.71$ the bar shrinks to $0.200$ and the tangent flattens to $0.200$. The slope stat is computed from the $F$ curve alone — and it lands on the height stat at every stop.

Explain

The match is forced. Nudge the sweep from $x$ to $x + h$: the total gains a thin strip of width $h$ and height essentially $f(x)$ — a continuous $f$ barely moves that far. So $\frac{F(x+h) - F(x)}{h} \approx f(x)$, and $h \to 0$ gives Part 1 of the Fundamental Theorem — the slope of the total is the height of the rate:

$$\frac{d}{dx}\int_0^x f(t)\,dt \;=\; f(x)$$

Part 2 makes it a computing device. Call $G$ an antiderivative of $f$ when $G' = f$. $F$ is one; any two differ by a constant, which cancels in differences, so $\int_a^b f(x)\,dx = G(b) - G(a)$. Here $G(x) = 1.2x - \cos x$ gives $\int_0^5 (\sin x + 1.2)\,dx = (6 - \cos 5) - (-1) = 7 - \cos 5 \approx 6.716$ — the number lesson 1's rectangles could only chase.

Apply
Checkpoint — prove it to yourself

The F′(x) slope stat is computed from the bottom curve alone, yet it matches f(x) height at every $x$. Which statement is being demonstrated?

Use Part 2 with the antiderivative $G(x) = 1.2x - \cos x$ to evaluate $\int_0^5 (\sin x + 1.2)\,dx$.

Transfer: define $h(x) = \int_0^x \cos(t^2)\,dt$. No elementary formula for $h$ exists. What is $h'(x)$?

Key idea

One fact, two faces. Part 1: $\frac{d}{dx}\int_0^x f(t)\,dt = f(x)$ — slope of the total equals height of the rate. Part 2: $\int_a^b f(x)\,dx = G(b) - G(a)$ for any antiderivative — two evaluations replace infinitely many rectangles.

← Lesson 2