Quantcast
Channel: Understanding the indefinite integral (without reference to derivatives) - Mathematics Stack Exchange
Viewing all articles
Browse latest Browse all 2

Understanding the indefinite integral (without reference to derivatives)

$
0
0

As I understand it, given some function $f$ integrable on $[a,b]$, we can define an indefinite integral of $f$ to be a function $F$ such that $$F(x)=\int_{n}^{x}f(t)dt,$$ where $n$ is some chosen fixed value on the $x$-axis such that $a \leq n \leq b$, and $x$ is a variable value varying between $n$ and $b$ inclusive.

We notice that aslong as $a \neq b$, there is an endless amount of different indefinite integral functions $F$ we can create for $f$, each one created by choosing a different value of $n$.

We call the set of all possible functions $F$ we can can create this way the indefinite integral of $f$, and denote it $$\int f(t)dt$$

Is my view of the indefinite integral correct? Am I on the right track? Or is there a fundamental misunderstanding somewhere in my explanation?If this explanation is false, please explain why without assuming any knowledge of differential calculus; since the book I go through teaches integration before differentiation, I have only so far learnt about definite integrals.


Viewing all articles
Browse latest Browse all 2

Latest Images

Trending Articles





Latest Images