Calculus Volume 1

710

Chapter 6 | Applications of Integration

Next, we compute the moments:

b ⎡

⎤ ⎦ 2

⎣ f ( x )

M x = ρ ∫

dx

2

a

x 2 |

4

0 4

= ∫

x 2

dx = 1 4

=4

0

and

b

M y = ρ ∫

xf ( x ) dx

a

4 x xdx = ∫ 0 4

= ∫

x 3/2 dx

0

x 5/2 |

0 4

[32−0] = 64 5 .

= 2 5

= 2 5

Thus, we have

M y m = 64/5 16/3

M x

x – =

and y – =

= 64 5

· 3

= 12 5

y = 4

=4· 3 16

= 3 4 .

16

16/3

The centroid of the region is (12/5, 3/4).

6.31 Let R be the region bounded above by the graph of the function f ( x ) = x 2 and below by the x -axis over the interval [0, 2]. Find the centroid of the region.

We can adapt this approach to find centroids of more complex regions as well. Suppose our region is bounded above by the graph of a continuous function f ( x ), as before, but now, instead of having the lower bound for the region be the x -axis, suppose the region is bounded below by the graph of a second continuous function, g ( x ), as shown in the following figure.

Figure 6.68 A region between two functions.

Again, we partition the interval ⎡

⎤ ⎦ and construct rectangles. A representative rectangle is shown in the following figure.

⎣ a , b

This OpenStax book is available for free at http://cnx.org/content/col11964/1.12

Made with FlippingBook - professional solution for displaying marketing and sales documents online