Video Transcript
Use the trapezoidal rule to
estimate the definite integral between the limits of zero and one of the square root
of π₯ plus one ππ₯ using four subintervals. Round your answer to three decimal
places.
Remember, the trapezoidal rule says
that we can find an estimate for the definite integral evaluated between π and π
of π of π₯ by splitting the area between the curve and the π₯-axis into π
subintervals. The formula we will require is Ξπ₯
over two times π of π₯ naught plus π of π₯ π plus two lots of π of π₯ one all
the way up to π of π₯ π minus one. And here Ξπ₯ is given by π minus
π over π and π₯π is given by π plus π times Ξπ₯.
Letβs break this down and just
begin by working out the value of Ξπ₯. Contextually, Ξπ₯ is the width of
each of our subintervals. In this question, weβre working
with four subintervals. So π is equal to four. π is the lower limit of our
integral. Itβs zero. And π is the upper limit. Itβs one. Ξπ₯ is therefore equal to one minus
zero over four.
We know that to be equal to a
quarter or 0.25. The values for π of π₯ naught, π
of π₯ one, and so on require little more work. But we can make this as simple as
possible by adding a table. The π₯-values in our table run from
π to π. Thatβs zero to one. And itβs worth noting that there
will always be one more π₯ value than the value of π. So here Iβve included five
columns. The other values of π₯ are found by
repeatedly adding Ξπ₯ β thatβs 0.25 β to π, which is zero. So they are 0.25, 0.5, and
0.75. And this gives us our four strips
of width 0.25 units.
Weβre now going to substitute each
of these π₯-values into our function. We begin with π of naught. Thatβs the square root of zero plus
one, which is simply one. π of 0.25 is the square root of
0.25 plus one. This is root five over two. Now we could actually use a decimal
value here. But for accuracy, it will be
important to include at least six decimal places. We then have π of 0.5. Thatβs the square root of 0.5 plus
one, which is root six over two. Repeating this process for 0.75 and
one, we end up with root seven over two and root two, respectively.
Letβs substitute everything we have
into the formula for the trapezoidal rule. Ξπ₯ over two is 0.25 over two. π of π₯ naught and π of π₯ π are
one and root two. We have two lots of everything
else. Thatβs root five over two, root six
over two, and root seven over two. And typing this into our
calculator, we get a value of 1.21819 and so on. Correct to three decimal places,
that gives us an estimate for the definite integral between zero and one of the
square root of π₯ plus one as 1.218.
And at this stage, we do have a
couple of ways that we can check our solution. We could type the exact problem
into our calculator. And when we do, we get a value of
1.21895 and so on. This is, of course, extremely close
to the solution we got. Alternatively, we could use
integration by substitution to evaluate the exact integral.