This topic has two halves. First you estimate an area with rectangles and trapezoids, which is what you do when you only have a table of values or a rough shape. Then you find areas exactly with definite integrals, including the part that QCAA tests nearly every year and students regularly get wrong: a curve that dips below the $x$-axis. Tick off each skill once you can do it without help.
Skills in this topic
The fundamental theorem of calculus and definite integrals (about 3 hours), and applications of integration (about 8 hours). Only tick a skill when you could do it in an exam.
Part 1
Estimating area with rectangles
Split the region under the curve into strips of width $\delta x$ and stand a rectangle on each one. The only decision is how tall each rectangle is.
In the left endpoint method, each rectangle's height is the function value at the left edge of its strip.
In the right endpoint method, it is the value at the right edge.
Find each rectangle's area and add them up. That is the sum $\sum f(x_i)\,\delta x_i$ the syllabus talks about. If the curve is increasing, left endpoints give an underestimate and right endpoints give an overestimate. If it is decreasing, it is the other way round.
Practise
Exam questions: estimating with rectangles
For the written-answer questions, the solutions show where each mark goes, based on the QCAA marking guides. Many marks allow follow-through: if an earlier step is wrong but you use your wrong answer correctly, you can still get the later marks. That is another reason to show every step. The sample paper questions have no marking guide, so they have no tags.
2025 Paper 2, Question 2
Multiple choice · Technology-active · [1 mark]
Determine the approximate area (units2) between the curve and the $x$-axis for $0\le x\le8$ by calculating the area of the shaded rectangles.
Each rectangle is 2 units wide. Read the heights off the grid: 2, 4 and 9.
$$A\approx2(2)+2(4)+2(9)=30$$
(A) is $2+4+9$, which forgets that the strips are 2 wide.
Answer
(C) 30
2023 Paper 1, Question 12(a)
Simple familiar · Technology-free · [1 mark]
The region bounded by the $x$-axis and the curve of $f(x)=x(4-x)$ represents the plan of a garden bed. All measurements are in metres.
Estimate the area of the garden bed using sums of the form $\sum_i f(x_i)\,\delta x_i$ where $x_1=1$, $x_2=2$, $x_3=3$ and $x_4=4$.
The strips are 1 m wide, so $\delta x_i=1$. Find each height, then add:
$$f(1)+f(2)+f(3)+f(4)=3+4+3+0=10$$
1 markThe estimate.
These are right endpoints, so the last rectangle has zero height. That is fine.
The approximate area under the curve $y=2x^{2}$ between $x=1$ and $x=4$ is found using rectangles (of width equal to one unit) as shown in the diagram.
What is the approximate area found using these rectangles?
Look at the diagram: each rectangle's top right corner touches the curve, so these are right endpoints, $x=2$, 3 and 4.
The other options are traps. (D) uses left endpoints, and (C) is the exact area, $\int_1^4 2x^2\,dx=42$.
Answer
(A) 58 units2
Part 2
The trapezoidal rule
Instead of flat-topped rectangles, join the points on the curve with straight lines to make trapezoids. The result is the average of the left and right endpoint estimates, and it is usually much more accurate. The formula sheet gives it as
Whether it overestimates or underestimates depends on which way the curve bends. It does not depend on whether it is increasing. If the curve bends upwards (concave up), each straight top sits above the curve and the rule overestimates. If it bends downwards (concave down), it underestimates. Try both in the interactive below.
Game plan: The trapezoidal rule
1Find the strip width, $w=\frac{b-a}{n}$. Check whether the question gives you the number of strips or the width.
2List the $x$-values, $x_0=a$ up to $x_n=b$. There is always one more $x$-value than there are strips.
3Work out $f(x)$ at each one. A table keeps this tidy.
4Substitute into the rule and show every value you substitute. Many questions give marks for the substitution itself.
Try it yourself
Rectangles or trapezoids?
Both curves below are increasing between $x=0$ and $x=4$. Switch between them with the trapezoidal rule selected and watch the error change sign.
Curve
Method
Practise
Exam questions: the trapezoidal rule
2024 Paper 2, Question 11
Simple familiar · Technology-active · [4 marks]
State the trapezoidal rule and use it with six strips to determine an approximate value of the definite integral for the curve of $f(x)=4(x-3)^{2}$ from $x=0$ to $x=3$. Show all substitutions made into the rule.
The $\frac12$ multiplies everything in the square bracket, including the middle terms. (B) only halves the first and last heights, and (C) forgets the $\frac12$ altogether.
Answer
(A) $2+\sqrt3+\sqrt5+\sqrt7$
2022 Paper 1, Question 14
Simple familiar · Technology-free · [6 marks]
The rate that water fills an empty vessel is given by $\frac{dV}{dt}=0.25e^{0.25t}$ (in litres per hour), $0\le t\le8\ln(6)$, where $t$ is time (in hours).
a) Determine the function that represents the volume of water in the vessel (in litres). [2 marks]
The vessel is full when $t=8\ln(6)$.
b) Determine the volume of water, to the nearest litre, the vessel can hold when full. [2 marks]
The table shows the approximate rate the water flows into the vessel at certain times.
$t$
$\frac{dV}{dt}$
0
0.25
1
0.32
2
0.41
3
0.53
c) Use information from the table and the trapezoidal rule to determine the approximate volume of water in the vessel after three hours. [2 marks]
a) Integrate, then use "empty" to find $c$. At $t=0$, $V=0$:
(B) is the exact value of the integral. If you put the integral straight into your calculator, you answer a different question from the one asked.
Answer
(C) 1.31
2020 Paper 2, Question 15
Simple familiar · Technology-active · [3 marks]
A field is divided into five sections as shown. The width of each section is 1 metre. The perpendicular height, in metres, of each section is given in the diagram. The area of the field was approximated using the trapezoidal rule and found to be 11.12 m2.
a) Determine the height marked $x$ on the diagram. [2 marks]
b) Determine the area of the field, given the shape of the field is modelled by the function $f(x)=\dfrac{4x}{x^{2}+1}+1$, $0\le x\le5$.[1 mark]
a) This is the rule run backwards. Substitute everything you know with $w=1$, set it equal to 11.12 and solve:
(A) is the exact area, $\frac{38}{3}\approx12.67$. The trapezoidal estimate is a little bigger because the parabola is concave up.
Answer
(B) 12.75 units2
Part 3
Area under a curve
When a continuous function $f(x)$ is above the $x$-axis from $x=a$ to $x=b$, the area between the curve and the axis is exactly the definite integral:
$$A=\int_{a}^{b}f(x)\,dx$$
Below the axis, the integral comes out negative, but an area cannot be negative. So sketch the curve first, every time, and check whether any part of it dips below the axis between your bounds. There are three cases.
Entirely above the axis. Integrate as normal.
Entirely below the axis. Integrate, then take the absolute value: $A=\left|\int_a^b f(x)\,dx\right|$.
Partly above and partly below. Find where the curve crosses the axis, split the integral there, and take the absolute value of each piece below the axis.
If you integrate straight from $a$ to $b$, the negative piece cancels part of the positive piece and you get $A_1-A_2$. Multiple choice questions nearly always offer that number as a wrong answer.
Game plan: Area under a curve (Technology-free)
1Sketch the curve by hand and shade the area you need.
2Find the bounds. Use the ones given, or find the $x$-intercepts.
3Decide which parts are above the axis and which are below. Split the integral at every $x$-intercept inside your bounds.
4Integrate using the rules from Unit 3 Topic 4.1, and evaluate each piece.
5Take the absolute value of each piece below the axis, then add the pieces.
Game plan: Area under a curve (Technology-active)
1Graph the function on your calculator and look at where it sits between the bounds.
2Use the roots tool to find any $x$-intercepts you need.
3Integrate each piece, taking the absolute value of the pieces below the axis. Or integrate $|f(x)|$ from $a$ to $b$ in one step, which your calculator's absolute value (or "mixed") option does for you.
4Write down the integral you entered as well as the number. Short response questions give marks for it.
Watch the integral cancel
Practise
Exam questions: area under a curve
2025 Paper 1, Question 8
Multiple choice · Technology-free · [1 mark]
Determine the area (units2) between the graph of $y=4x^{3}$ and the $x$-axis from $x=-1$ to $x=2$.
$y=4x^3$ is below the axis for $x<0$ and above it for $x>0$, so split at 0:
(A), (B) and (C) are the three numbers you would get by forgetting to split, or by stopping halfway.
Answer
(D) 20.00
2023 Paper 1, Question 12(b)
Simple familiar · Technology-free · [3 marks]
The region bounded by the $x$-axis and the curve of $f(x)=x(4-x)$ represents the plan of a garden bed. All measurements are in metres. (The graph is with part (a) in Part 1.)
Use a definite integral to determine the area of the garden bed.
The bed runs between the $x$-intercepts, 0 and 4, and the curve is above the axis there. Expand before you integrate:
(A) is the integral straight from $-1$ to 1, which subtracts the piece below the axis instead of adding it.
Answer
(B) 1.26
Practise
Exam question: finding unknowns from an area
This is the area version of Unit 4 Topic 1.1, Part 2. Integrate with the unknowns left in as letters, set each area equal to the value you are given, and solve.
2021 Paper 1, Question 18
Complex familiar · Technology-free · [4 marks]
The graph of $y=f(x)$, where $f(x)$ is the quadratic function $f(x)=ax^{2}+bx+4$, is shown. Two regions of the area between the graph of $y=f(x)$ and the $x$-axis are shaded.
Region $P$ has an area of $\frac{13}{6}$ units2 and Region $Q$ has an area of $\frac{43}{6}$ units2. Determine the values of $a$ and $b$.
Both regions are above the axis, so each area is just the integral. The antiderivative is $F(x)=\frac{a}{3}x^{3}+\frac{b}{2}x^{2}+4x$, and $F(0)=0$.
A company makes windows using glass that has a mass of 5.6 kg per square metre. A customer orders an unusual window in a partial parabolic shape, as shown.
Determine the mass of the window.
Glass area = area under the parabola minus the triangle. Put the bottom left corner at the origin. The parabola has roots 0 and 8 and height 12 at $x=4$, so $y=kx(8-x)$ with $16k=12$:
1 markThe area between the parabola and the $x$-axis.
The triangle has base 8 and sides 7 and 9. If its top vertex is at $(p,h)$, then $p^2+h^2=49$ and $(8-p)^2+h^2=81$. Subtracting gives $p=2$ and $h=\sqrt{45}$, so its area is $\frac12(8)\sqrt{45}\approx26.83$ m2.
1 markThe area of the triangle that is cut out.
Glass: $64-26.83=37.17$ m2. Mass: $37.17\times5.6\approx208$ kg.
1 markThe mass of the glass. A whole number of kilograms is fine.
Answer
About 208 kg
1 markLogical organisation: a clear flow through the key steps, with correct notation and units.
A farmer has a paddock with straight fences on two sides (fence A and fence B) perpendicular to each other and bounded by a creek on the other side. Fence B is 4 kilometres long. The creek boundary can be modelled using
$$d=\ln(5x+e)-1$$
where $d$ is the perpendicular distance in kilometres from fence A to the creek and $x$ is the distance in kilometres along fence A from the point O.
The farmer wants to divide his paddock area in half with a straight fence, parallel to fence B.
Determine where the farmer should locate the fence.
First find where fence B is. It is 4 km long, so the creek is 4 km from fence A there:
This is reasonable. It is more than halfway along (14.57 km), because the paddock is narrower near O.
Answer
About 17.24 km along fence A from O, parallel to fence B
Part 4
Area between curves
To find the area between two curves, subtract the bottom function from the top one and integrate. If $f(x)$ is on top and $g(x)$ is underneath for $a\le x\le b$,
$$A=\int_{a}^{b}\big(f(x)-g(x)\big)\,dx$$
It does not matter if one or both curves go below the $x$-axis. "Top minus bottom" is always the height of the region. What matters is knowing which curve is on top, so you have to sketch both (or graph them on your calculator) before you write anything down. If the curves cross each other, the points of intersection are usually your bounds. If they do not cross, the question gives you the bounds, as vertical lines like $x=0$ and $x=1$.
Game plan: Area between curves
1Sketch both curves (by hand on Paper 1, on your calculator on Paper 2) and decide which is on top.
2Find the points of intersection. On Paper 1, set the functions equal and solve. On Paper 2, use the intersection tool.
3Integrate top minus bottom between the bounds.
Harder questions make you work out one or both functions first, or give you the area and ask for an unknown. QCAA has not yet asked either of those for area between curves, but I would expect them, so treat them the same way as Part 3. The window question above is already an area between curves in disguise: the parabola on top and the triangle's sides underneath.
Watch top minus bottom
Practise
Exam questions: area between curves
2023 Paper 2, Question 13
Short response · Technology-active · [4 marks]
The curved lines represent graphs of the equations $y=x^{2}-4x+8$ and $y=10\cos(x+10)$.
a) Determine the coordinates of the points of intersection A and B. [1 mark]
b) State an integral expression representing the area enclosed by the two graphs. [2 marks]
c) Determine the area enclosed by the two graphs. [1 mark]
a) Graph both on your calculator, in radians, and use the intersection tool: A$(1.441,\ 4.312)$ and B$(3.473,\ 6.168)$.
1 markThe coordinates of A and B, to any sensible number of decimal places.
b) Between A and B the cosine curve (dashed) is on top:
Eight questions of my own, covering every skill. Each one is labelled with the skill it practises, so if one goes wrong you know which part of the guide to go back to. Sketch the curve before you start every one of them.
Using four rectangles of equal width, with heights taken at the right end of each strip, an estimate of the area under $y=x^{2}$ from $x=1$ to $x=3$ is
Each strip is $\delta x=\frac{3-1}{4}=0.5$ wide, and the right ends are $x=1.5,\ 2,\ 2.5,\ 3$.
$$(2.25+4+6.25+9)\times0.5=10.75$$
The curve is increasing, so right-end rectangles stick out above it and give an overestimate. The exact area is $\frac{26}{3}\approx8.67$, option (B). Option (A) uses left ends, and (D) has forgotten the width.
Answer
(C) 10.75
Question 2 of 8
Skill 2: the trapezoidal rule · Technology-free · [4 marks]
Use the trapezoidal rule with three strips to determine an approximate value of $\displaystyle\int_{1}^{4}\frac{12}{x}\,dx$. Show all substitutions made into the rule.
1Find the width. $w=\frac{4-1}{3}=1$, so the $x$-values are 1, 2, 3 and 4.
2Find each height.
$x$
$1$
$2$
$3$
$4$
$f(x)=\frac{12}{x}$
$12$
$6$
$4$
$3$
3State the rule, then substitute. The first and last heights appear once, and the middle ones are doubled.
4Take the absolute value of the part below the axis and add.
$$A\approx1.2958+1.6849\approx2.98$$
Integrating straight from 0 to 2 gives about 0.389. That is wrong, because the part below the axis cancels some of the part above. This is the same trap as the animation in Part 3.
Answer
About 2.98 units²
Question 6 of 8
Skill 4: area below and above the axis · Multiple choice · Technology-free · [1 mark]
The area enclosed between $y=\cos x$ and the $x$-axis from $x=0$ to $x=\pi$ is
$\cos x$ is positive from 0 to $\frac{\pi}{2}$ and negative from $\frac{\pi}{2}$ to $\pi$, so split at $\frac{\pi}{2}$.
Write down the integral you entered as well as the number. The bounds and the top-minus-bottom expression each earn marks in questions like this.
Answer
About 6.43 units²
Keep practising
Ready for something harder?
The window question has its own complex unfamiliar walkthrough. Try it again from a blank page first. The hard part is not the integral, it is deciding where to put the axes.