Antiderivatives A physicist who knows the velocity of a particle might wish to know its position at a given time.
An engineer who can measure the variable rate at which
water is leaking from a tank wants to know the amount leaked over a certain time period.
A biologist who knows the rate at which a bacteria
population is increasing might want to deduce what the size of the population will be at some future time.
3 Antiderivatives In each case, the problem is to find a function F whose derivative is a known function f. If such a function F exists, it is called an antiderivative of f.
4 Antiderivatives For instance, let f(x) = x2. It isn’t difficult to discover an antiderivative of f if we keep the Power Rule in mind. In fact, if F(x) = x3, then F(x) = x2 = f(x).
But the function G(x) = x3 + 100 also satisfies G(x) = x2.
Therefore both F and G are antiderivatives of f.
Indeed, any function of the form H(x) = x3 + C, where C is
a constant, is an antiderivative of f.
5 Antiderivatives The following theorem says that f has no other antiderivative
Going back to the function f(x) = x2, we see that the general antiderivative of f is x3/3 + C.
6 Antiderivatives By assigning specific values to the constant C, we obtain a family of functions whose graphs are vertical translates of one another (see Figure 1).
This makes sense because
each curve must have the same slope at any given value of x.
Members of the family of antiderivatives
of f(x) = x2 Figure 1 7 Example 1 Find the most general antiderivative of each of the following functions. (a) f(x) = sin x (b) f(x) = 1/x (c) f(x) = xn, n –1
Solution: (a) If F(x) = –cos x, then F(x) = sin x, so an antiderivative of sin x is –cos x.
By Theorem 1, the most general antiderivative is
G(x) = –cos x + C.
8 Example 1 – Solution cont’d
(b) Recall
So on the interval (0, ) the general antiderivative of 1/x
is ln x + C. We also learned that
for all x 0. Theorem 1 then tells us that the general
antiderivative of f(x) = 1/x is In |x| + C on any interval that doesn’t contain 0. In particular, this is true on each of the intervals ( , 0) and (0, ). 9 Example 1 – Solution cont’d
So the general antiderivative of f is
(c) We use the Power Rule to discover an antiderivative of
xn. In fact, if n –1, then
Thus the general antiderivative of f(x) = xn is
10 Example 1 – Solution cont’d
This is valid for n 0 since then f(x) = xn is defined on
an interval. If n is negative (but n –1), it is valid on any interval that doesn’t contain 0.
11 Antiderivatives As in Example 1, every differentiation formula, when read from right to left, gives rise to an antidifferentiation formula. In Table 2 we list some particular antiderivatives.
To obtain the most general anti derivative from the particular ones in Table 2, we have to add a constant (or constants), as in Example 1. 12 Antiderivatives Each formula in the table is true because the derivative of the function in the right column appears in the left column.
In particular, the first formula says that the antiderivative of
a constant times a function is the constant times the antiderivative of the function.
The second formula says that the antiderivative of a sum is
the sum of the antiderivatives. (We use the notation F = f, G = g.)
13 Antiderivatives An equation that involves the derivatives of a function is called a differential equation.
The general solution of a differential equation involves an
arbitrary constant (or constants).
However, there may be some extra conditions given that
will determine the constants and therefore uniquely specify the solution.
14 Rectilinear Motion
15 Rectilinear Motion Antidifferentiation is particularly useful in analyzing the motion of an object moving in a straight line. Recall that if the object has position function s = f(t), then the velocity function is v(t) = s(t).
This means that the position function is an antiderivative of
the velocity function.
Likewise, the acceleration function is a(t) = v(t), so the
velocity function is an antiderivative of the acceleration.
If the acceleration and the initial values s(0) and v(0) are known, then the position function can be found by antidifferentiating twice. 16 Example 6 A particle moves in a straight line and has acceleration given by a(t) = 6t + 4. Its initial velocity is v(0) = –6 cm/s and its initial displacement is s(0) = 9 cm. Find its position function s(t).
