Integration is an operation that finds the **net** area under a curve, and is the opposite operation of differentiation. As such, it is also known as **anti-differentiation**.
The area under a curve between the interval of x-values $[a,b]$ is:
$$A=\lim_{x\to\infty}\sum^n_{i=1}f(x_i)\Delta x$$
which can be simplified to, where $dx$ indicates that integration should be performed with respect to $x$:
$$A=\int^b_a f(x)dx$$
While $\Sigma$ refers to a finite sum, $\int$ refers to the sum of a limit.
As integration is the opposite operation of differentiation, they can cancel each other out.
$$\frac{d}{dx}\int f(x)dx=f(x)$$
The **integral** or **anti-derivative** of a function is capitalised by convention. Where $C$ is an unknown constant:
$$\int f(x)dx=F(x)+C$$
When integrating, there is always an unknown constant $C$ as there are infinitely many possible functions that have the same rate of change but have different vertical translations.
!!! definition
- $C$ is known as the **constant of integration**.
- $f(x)$ is the **integrand**.
### Integration rules
$$
\begin{align*}
&\int 1dx &= &&x+C \\
&\int (ax^n)dx, n≠-1 &=&&\frac{a}{n+1}x^{n+1} + C \\
&\int (x^{-1})dx&=&&\ln|x|+C \\
&\int (ax+b)^{-1}dx&=&&\frac{\ln|ax+b|}{a}+C \\
&\int (ae^{kx})dx &= &&\frac{a}{k}e^{kx} + C \\
&\int (\sin kx)dx &= &&\frac{-\cos kx}{k}+C \\
&\int (\cos kx)dx &= &&\frac{\sin kx}{k}+C \\
\end{align*}
$$
Similar to differentiation, integration allows for constant multiples to be brought out and terms to be considered individually.
Similar to limit evaluation, the substitution of complex expressions involving $x$ and $dx$ with $u$ and $du$ is generally used to work with the chain rule.
Regions **under** the x-axis are treated as negative while those above are positive, cancelling each other out, so the definite integral finds something like the net area over an interval.
If $f(x)$ is continuous at $[a,b]$ and $F(x)$ is the anti-derivative, the definite integral is equal to:
$$\int^b_a f(x)dx=F(x)\biggr]^b_a=F(b)-F(a)$$
As such, it can be evaluated manually by integrating the function and subtracting the two anti-derivatives.
!!! warning
If $u$-substitution is used, the limits of integration must be adjusted accordingly.
To find the total **area** enclosed between the x-axis, $x=a$, $x=b$, and $f(x)$, the function needs to be split at each x-intercept and the absolute value of each definite integral in those intervals summed.
$$A=\int^b_a \big|f(x)\big| dx$$
### Properties of definite integration
The following rules only apply while $f(x)$ and $g(x)$ are continuous in the interval $[a,b]$ and $c$ is a constant.
