Skip to ContentGo to accessibility pageKeyboard shortcuts menu
OpenStax Logo
Calculus Volume 2

Introduction

Calculus Volume 2Introduction

This is a picture of a city street with a traffic signal. The picture has very busy lanes of traffic in both directions.
Figure 3.1 Careful planning of traffic signals can prevent or reduce the number of accidents at busy intersections. (credit: modification of work by David McKelvey, Flickr)

In a large city, accidents occurred at an average rate of one every three months at a particularly busy intersection. After residents complained, changes were made to the traffic lights at the intersection. It has now been eight months since the changes were made and there have been no accidents. Were the changes effective or is the eight-month interval without an accident a result of chance? We explore this question later in this chapter and see that integration is an essential part of determining the answer (see Example 3.49).

We saw in the previous chapter how important integration can be for all kinds of different topics—from calculations of volumes to flow rates, and from using a velocity function to determine a position to locating centers of mass. It is no surprise, then, that techniques for finding antiderivatives (or indefinite integrals) are important to know for everyone who uses them. We have already discussed some basic integration formulas and the method of integration by substitution. In this chapter, we study some additional techniques, including some ways of approximating definite integrals when normal techniques do not work.

Order a print copy

As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.

Citation/Attribution

This book may not be used in the training of large language models or otherwise be ingested into large language models or generative AI offerings without OpenStax's permission.

Want to cite, share, or modify this book? This book uses the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License and you must attribute OpenStax.

Attribution information
  • If you are redistributing all or part of this book in a print format, then you must include on every physical page the following attribution:
    Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/calculus-volume-2/pages/1-introduction
  • If you are redistributing all or part of this book in a digital format, then you must include on every digital page view the following attribution:
    Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/calculus-volume-2/pages/1-introduction
Citation information

© Feb 5, 2024 OpenStax. Textbook content produced by OpenStax is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License . The OpenStax name, OpenStax logo, OpenStax book covers, OpenStax CNX name, and OpenStax CNX logo are not subject to the Creative Commons license and may not be reproduced without the prior and express written consent of Rice University.