Relation between Summation and Integral

Maddy_Math

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I know we say \(\displaystyle \lim\limits_{n \to \infty} \sum\limits_{i=1}^n f\big( x_{i} \big) \cdot \Delta x = \int_a^b f\big( x_{i} \big) dx \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \text{ where } \Delta x = \frac{b-a}{n} \) but my problem is how do we relate these both

* The summation notation is solved by adding terms n times
* Whereas integral is solved by taking Anti-Derivative

They are solved by different methods then how are they related?

I know the area under curve can be found by summation BUT I don't have understanding of how that same area can be found by taking antiderivative

I'm confused and seriously need you guys help
 
I know we say \(\displaystyle \lim\limits_{n \to \infty} \sum\limits_{i=1}^n f\big( x_{i} \big) \cdot \Delta x = \int_a^b f\big( x_{i} \big) dx \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \text{ where } \Delta x = \frac{b-a}{n} \) but my problem is how do we relate these both
This is not exactly correct. The "limit" on the left has to be taken in a specific way- we cannot just write it as a limit of a function.

* The summation notation is solved by adding terms n times
The point of the Riemann sums is to show that we can define the "area under the curve" for figures other than the basic "rectangle", "parallelogram", and "circle" of classical geometry.

* Whereas integral is solved by taking Anti-Derivative

They are solved by different methods then how are they related?

I know the area under curve can be found by summation BUT I don't have understanding of how that same area can be found by taking antiderivative

I'm confused and seriously need you guys help
First, do you agree that the summation, which is a summation of areas of rectangles approximating the region under the curve, is an approximation to the actual area, and that the limit, both taking more rectangles and making the rectangles smaller, gives the area itself? That should be fairly intuitive.

The proof of the other part, that this area is given by the anti-derivative is given in most Calculus text-books. I'll try to reproduce it here:

First, draw the graph. (It might help to actually do that yourself.) To start with, take y= f(x) such that f(x)> 0 and that f be continuous between, say, a and b. Now, define A(x) to be the area under that curve from a to some value x> a (the "Riemann sums" construction assures us that we can do this). Let \(\displaystyle \Delta x\) be some small positive number. Then, by definition, \(\displaystyle A(x+ \Delta x)\) is the area from a to \(\displaystyle x+ \Delta x\) and so \(\displaystyle A(x+ \Delta x)- A(x)\) is the area under the curve from x to \(\displaystyle x+ \Delta x\). That will almost be a very thin rectangle. "Almost" because the top boundary is the curve y= f(x) rather than a horizontal line. If we let \(\displaystyle y_0\) be the smallest value of f(x) and \(\displaystyle y_1\) be the largest value of f(x) between \(\displaystyle x\) and \(\displaystyle x+ \Delta x\) then by the intermediate value theorem there exist some \(\displaystyle y_0\le \overline{y}\le y_1\) such that the area under the curve, between x and \(\displaystyle x+ \Delta x\) is equal to the area of the rectangle with base from x to \(\displaystyle x+ \Delta x\) and height \(\displaystyle \overline{y}\). That is, the area is given by \(\displaystyle A(x+\Delta x)- A(x)= (\Delta x)(\overline{y})\). In that case, we have \(\displaystyle \frac{A(x+ \Delta x)- A(x)}{\Delta x}= \overline{y}\).

Now, take the limit as \(\displaystyle \Delta x\) goes to 0. On the left of that last equation, we have \(\displaystyle \lim_{\Delta x\to 0}\frac{A(x+ \Delta x)- A(x)}{\Delta x}= \frac{dA}{dx}\). On the right, since we always have \(\displaystyle \overline{y}= f(x')\) for some x' between x and \(\displaystyle x+ \Delta x\), as \(\displaystyle \Delta x\) goes to 0, x' goes to x and \(\displaystyle \overline{y}= f(x')\) goes to f(x). That is, in the limit, that last equation becomes
\(\displaystyle \frac{dA}{dx}= f(x)\).

The derivative of the area function really is f(x) so the area really is the "anti-derivative" of f(x).
 
I'm so sorry for being this much late actually I just got too busy.

Can you please write how you mean Riemann Sums limit should look like?

Well I get your point that Riemann Sum gives an approximation not exact area

And yes now I get how Anti-Derivative is area of original function f(x).

Thankyou very much HallsofIvy.
 
\(\displaystyle \sum_{i= 1}^\infty f(x_i)\Delta x\) implies that \(\displaystyle \Delta x\) is fixed and \(\displaystyle x_i\) is already given for i= 1 to \(\displaystyle \infty\). But with the Riemann sum, with every step, as you increase n, you are dividing the interval anew into subintervals and every \(\displaystyle x_i\) changes. It's a bit more complicated than just an infinite sum.
 
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