TAGOLOAN COMMUNITY COLLEGE

College of Engineering Technology

Subject Code: CAL 2/MATH 2 Descriptive Title: INTEGRAL CALCULUS Semester/A.Y.: Second Semester of 2020-2021

MODULE 2: INDEFINITE INTEGRALS

INTRODUCTION: In this module, you will start off the lesson with the definition and properties of indefinite integrals. In
the meantime, you will not be computing many indefinite integrals. This module is devoted to simply defining what an
indefinite integral is and to give many of the properties of the indefinite integral. Actually, computing indefinite integrals
will start in the next module.

INTENDED LEARNING OUTCOMES: In this module, you will be able to:

DISCUSSION:
In the Calculus 1, we’ve been given a function, f(x), and we’ve been asked what the derivative of this function was.
Starting with this idea, we are now going to turn things around. We now want to ask what function we differentiated to
get the function f(x).

Let’s take a quick look at an example to get us started.

Example 1: What function did we differentiate to get the following function. f(x) = x4 + 3x – 9.

Solution 1: Let’s actually start by getting the derivative of this function to help us see how we’re going to have to
approach this problem. The derivative of this function is, f′(x) = 4x3 + 3.

The point of this was to remind us of how differentiation works. When differentiating powers of x we multiply the term by
the original exponent and then drop the exponent by one.

Now, let’s go back and work the problem. In fact, let’s just start with the first term. We got x4 by differentiating a function
and since we drop the exponent by one it looks like we must have differentiated x5. However, if we had
differentiated x5 we would have 5x4 and we don’t have a 5 in front our first term, so the 5 needs to cancel out after we’ve
1
differentiated. It looks then like we would have to differentiate 5x5 in order to get x4.

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Likewise, for the second term, in order to get 3x after differentiating we would have to differentiate x2. Again, the fraction
2
is there to cancel out the 2 we pick up in the differentiation.
The third term is just a constant and we know that if we differentiate x we get 1. So, it looks like we had to differentiate
-9x to get the last term.

Putting all of this together gives the following function,

Our answer is easy enough to check. Simply differentiate F(x).

So, it looks like we got the correct function. Or did we? We know that the derivative of a constant is zero and so any of
the following will also give f(x) upon differentiating.

In fact, any function of the form,

will give f(x) upon differentiating.

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 There were two points to this last example. The first point was to get you thinking about how to do these problems. It is
important initially to remember that we are really just asking what we differentiated to get the given function.

The other point is to recognize that there are actually an infinite number of functions that we could use and they will all
differ by a constant.

Now that we’ve worked an example let’s get some of the definitions and terminology out of the way.

Definitions:

Note that often we will just say integral instead of indefinite integral (or definite integral for that matter when we get to
those). It will be clear from the context of the problem that we are talking about an indefinite integral (or definite integral).

The process of finding the indefinite integral is called integration or integrating f(x). If we need to be specific about the
integration variable we will say that we are integrating f(x) with respect to x.

Let’s rework the first problem in light of the new terminology.

Solution 2: Since this is really asking for the most general anti-derivative we just need to reuse the final answer from
the first example. The indefinite integral is,

A couple of warnings are now in order. One of the more common mistakes that students make with integrals (both
indefinite and definite) is to drop the dx at the end of the integral. This is required! Think of the integral sign and the dx as
a set of parentheses. You already know and are probably quite comfortable with the idea that every time you open a
parenthesis you must close it. With integrals, think of the integral sign as an “open parenthesis” and the dx as a “close
parenthesis”.

If you drop the dx it won’t be clear where the integrand ends. Consider the following variations of the above example.

You only integrate what is between the integral sign and the dx. Each of the above integrals end in a different place and
so we get different answers because we integrate a different number of terms each time. In the second integral the “-9”
is outside the integral and so is left alone and not integrated. Likewise, in the third integral the “3x−9” is outside the
integral and so is left alone.

Knowing which terms to integrate is not the only reason for writing the dx down. In the Substitution Rule which is
discussed in the next modules, we will actually be working with the dx in the problem and if we aren’t in the habit of
writing it down it will be easy to forget about it and then we will get the wrong answer at that stage.

The moral of this is to make sure and put in the dx! At this stage it may seem like a silly thing to do, but it just needs to
be there, if for no other reason than knowing where the integral stops.

On a side note, the dx notation should seem a little familiar to you. We saw things like this a couple of modules we had
in Calculus 1. We called the dx a differential in that lesson and yes that is exactly what it is. The dx that ends the integral
is nothing more than a differential.

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 The next topic that we should discuss here is the integration variable used in the integral. Actually, there isn’t really a
lot to discuss here other than to note that the integration variable doesn’t really matter. For instance,

Changing the integration variable in the integral simply changes the variable in the answer. It is important to notice
however that when we change the integration variable in the integral we also changed the differential (dx, dt, or dw) to
match the new variable. This is more important than we might realize at this point.

Another use of the differential at the end of integral is to tell us what variable we are integrating with respect to. At this
stage that may seem unimportant since most of the integrals that we’re going to be working with here will only involve
a single variable. However, if you are on a degree track that will take you into multi-variable calculus this will be very
important at that stage since there will be more than one variable in the problem. You need to get into the habit of writing
the correct differential at the end of the integral so when it becomes important in those classes you will already be in the
habit of writing it down.

To see why this is important take a look at the following two integrals.

The first integral is simple enough.

The second integral is also fairly simple, but we need to be careful. The dx tells us that we are integrating x’s. That
means that we only integrate x’s that are in the integrand and all other variables in the integrand are considered to be
constants. The second integral is then,

So, it may seem silly to always put in the dx, but it is a vital bit of notation that can cause us to get the incorrect
answer if we neglect to put it in.

Now, there are some important properties of integrals that we should take a look at.

Properties of the Indefinite Integral:

Notice that when we worked the first example above we used the first and third property in the discussion. We integrated
each term individually, put any constants back in and then put everything back together with the appropriate sign.

Not listed in the properties above were integrals of products and quotients. The reason for this is simple. Just like with
derivatives each of the following will NOT work.

With derivatives we had a product rule and a quotient rule to deal with these cases. However, with integrals there are
no such rules. When faced with a product and quotient in an integral we will have a variety of ways of dealing with it
depending on just what the integrand is.

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 There is one final topic to be discussed briefly in this module. On occasion we will be given f′(x) and will ask
what f(x) was. We can now answer this question easily with an indefinite integral.

Example 3: If f ′(x) = x4 +3x – 9, what was f(x)?

Solution 3: By this point in this module, this is a simple question to answer.

In this module, we kept evaluating the same indefinite integral in all of our examples. The point of this module was not
to do indefinite integrals, but instead to get us familiar with the notation and some of the basic ideas and properties of
indefinite integrals. The next couple of modules are devoted to actually evaluating indefinite integrals.

EXERCISES:
Directions: Answer each problem. SHOW YOUR SOLUTIONS. No solution, no points.

1. .

2. .

ASSESSMENT:
Directions: Answer the following problems. Write only the final answers on a sheet of paper. Then, take a photo and
send it through the Facebook Page, Mr. Jimbo Antipolo III or click https://www.facebook.com/iamjimbo.official.

This is for Cal 2: Integral Calculus exclusive use only. Any form of unauthorized distribution is strictly prohibited. Page 4 of 5
 ESSAY:
Directions: In 3-5 sentences, discuss the process of evaluating indefinite integrals.

REFERENCES:
❖ Alferez, Gerald S, (2004). “Introduction to Calculus”. MSA Publishing House, Cainta Rizal.
❖ Dawkins, Paul (2003). “Paul’s Online Notes”. Lamar University, Beaumont, Texas 77710.
❖ Feliciano, Florentino T. and Fausto B. Uy, (1983). “Differential & Integral Calculus”. Merriam
& Webster Bookstore, Inc. Manila, Philippines.
❖ Strang, Gilbert. “Calculus”. Wellesly-Cambridge Press. Retrieved on January 15, 2021 from:
https://ocw.mit.edu/resources/res-18-001-calculus-online-textbook-spring-
2005/textbook/MITRES_18_001_strang_1.pdf

Prepared by

MR. JIMBO J. ANTIPOLO, LPT, MEd

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