009B Sample Midterm 2, Problem 1

Consider the region $S$ bounded by $x=1,x=5,y={\frac {1}{x^{2}}}$  and the $x$-axis.

a) Use four rectangles and a Riemann sum to approximate the area of the region $S$. Sketch the region $S$ and the rectangles and indicate whether your rectangles overestimate or underestimate the area of Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle S} .

b) Find an expression for the area of the region Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle S} as a limit. Do not evaluate the limit.

Approximation of integral with left endpoints is an overestimate.

Foundations:
See the page on Riemann Sums.

Solution:

(a)

Step 1:
Let Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle f(x)=\frac{1}{x^2}} . Since our interval is Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle [1,5]} and we are using 4 rectangles, each rectangle has width 1. Since the problem doesn't specify, we can choose either right- or left-endpoints. Choosing left-endpoints, the Riemann sum is
Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle 1\cdot (f(1)+f(2)+f(3)+f(4))} .

Step 2:
Thus, the left-endpoint Riemann sum is
Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle 1\cdot (f(1)+f(2)+f(3)+f(4))=\bigg(1+\frac{1}{4}+\frac{1}{9}+{1}{16}\bigg)=\frac{205}{144}} .
The left-endpoint Riemann sum overestimates the area of Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle S} .

(b)

Step 1:
Let Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle n} be the number of rectangles used in the left-endpoint Riemann sum for Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle f(x)=\frac{1}{x^2}} .
The width of each rectangle is Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle \Delta x=\frac{5-1}{n}=\frac{4}{n}} .

Step 2:
So, the left-endpoint Riemann sum is
Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle \Delta x \bigg(f(1)+f\bigg(1+\frac{4}{n}\bigg)+f\bigg(1+2\frac{4}{n}\bigg)+\ldots +f\bigg(1+(n-1)\frac{4}{n}\bigg)\bigg)} .
Now, we let Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle n} go to infinity to get a limit.
So, the area of Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle S} is equal to Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle \lim_{n\to\infty} \frac{4}{n}\sum_{i=0}^{n-1}f\bigg(1+i\frac{4}{n}\bigg)\,=\,\lim_{n\to\infty} \frac{4}{n}\sum_{i=0}^{n-1}\bigg(1+i\frac{4}{n}\bigg)^{-2}} .

Final Answer:
(a) The left-endpoint Riemann sum is Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle \frac{205}{144}} , which overestimates the area of Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle S} .
(b) Using left-endpoint Riemann sums:
Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle \lim_{n\to\infty} \frac{4}{n}\sum_{i=0}^{n-1}\bigg(1+i\frac{4}{n}\bigg)^{-2}}

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