Topic: Definite integrals of even and odd functions
Question: If this is the integral of an even function, rewrite the integral.
4
∫−4
x 4 − 2x 2 d x
Answer choices:
A The function isn’t even or can’t be rewritten.
4
∫0
B The function is even and can be rewritten as x 4 − 2x 2 d x
∫0
C The function is even and can be rewritten as 2 x 4 − 2x 2 d x
∫−2
D The function is even and can be rewritten as 2 x 4 − 2x 2 d x
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Solution: C
In order for us to be able to rewrite the integral, we need to know that the
area under the function to the left of the y-axis is equal to the area under
the function to the right of the y-axis. We can say that these two areas are
equal if we can show two things:
1. That the function is even, which means it’s symmetrical about the
y-axis.
2. That the limits of integration are symmetrical about the y-axis.
We can use simple algebra to determine whether or not the function is
even. The way we do this is by substituting −x for x in our original function.
If we simplify and the result is equal to our original function, then we know
that the function is even.
f (x) = x 4 − 2x 2
f (−x) = (−x)4 − 2(−x)2
f (−x) = x 4 − 2x 2
f (x) = f (−x)
Since we’ve shown that f (x) = f (−x), we know that the function is even. We
can also easily see that the limits of integration are symmetrical about the
y-axis, because the interval is [−4,4], which is in the form [−a, a].
With these two requirements satisfied, we can rewrite the integral,
changing the limits of integration from [−a, a] to [0,a] and multiply the
integral by 2. So we get
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a a
∫−a ∫0
f (x) d x = 2 f (x) d x
4 4
∫−4 ∫0
4 2
x − 2x d x = 2 x 4 − 2x 2 d x
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Topic: Definite integrals of even and odd functions
Question: If this is the integral of an even function, rewrite the integral.
3
∫0
x 2 + 18 d x
Answer choices:
3
∫0
A The function is even and can be rewritten as x 2 + 18 d x
B The function isn’t even or can’t be rewritten.
1
∫0
2
C The function is even and can be rewritten as 2 x 2 + 18 d x
∫−3
D The function is even and can be rewritten as 2 x 2 + 18 d x
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Solution: B
In order for us to be able to rewrite the integral, we need to know that the
area under the function to the left of the y-axis is equal to the area under
the function to the right of the y-axis. We can say that these two areas are
equal if we can show two things:
1. That the function is even, which means it’s symmetrical about the
y-axis.
2. That the limits of integration are symmetrical about the y-axis.
We can use simple algebra to determine whether or not the function is
even. The way we do this is by substituting −x for x in our original function.
If we simplify and the result is equal to our original function, then we know
that the function is even.
f (x) = x 2 + 18
f (−x) = (−x)2 + 18
f (−x) = x 2 + 18
f (x) = f (−x)
Since we’ve shown that f (x) = f (−x), we know that the function is even.
However, the limits of integration are [0,3]. Since that doesn’t match the
form [−a, a], we know that the limits of integration are not symmetrical
about the y-axis.
So even though the function is even, we can’t rewrite the integral.
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Topic: Definite integrals of even and odd functions
Question: Definite integrals of odd functions evaluated on the interval
[−a, a]...
Answer choices:
A ... will have different values depending on the function.
B ... will always equal 0.
C ... will never exist.
D ... will always equal ∞.
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Solution: B
Odd functions are symmetric about the origin. If a function is symmetric
about the origin, it means that any area above the x-axis in the first
quadrant will be reflected below the x-axis in the third quadrant. Or that
any area above the x-axis in the second quadrant will be reflected below
the x-axis in the fourth quadrant.
Therefore, if we take the integral of an odd function on the interval [−a, a],
it means that the area above the x-axis will be equal to the area below the
x-axis, and therefore that the value of the integral will always be 0.
If the interval is anything other than [−a, a], we know that value of the
integral will be non-zero.
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