
340 • Definite Integrals
If you treat the shaded area as signed, so that the area of the region labeled
II counts as negative, then we have
signed area =
Z
2
0
(−x
2
− 2x + 3) dx = −
Z
2
0
x
2
dx − 2
Z
2
0
x dx + 3
Z
2
0
1 dx.
Here we’ve broken up the integral using the principles from the previous sec-
tion. We also know what all three integrals are, having found them above.
We get
shaded signed area = −
8
3
− 2(2) + 3(2) = −
2
3
square units.
This is clearly not the unsigned area, since it’s negative! So, how do you find
the unsigned area? The trick is to break up the integral into pieces to isolate
the bits of area above and below the axis, then add up their absolute values.
In the above example, we need to know where the curve hits the x-axis. So
just solve −x
2
− 2x + 3 = 0 and you will see that x = 1 or x = −3. Clearly
x = 1 is what we’re looking for here, since it’s between 0 and 2, while −3
isn’t.
Now we can write down two integrals:
Z
1
0
(−x
2
− 2x + 3) dx and
Z
2
1
(−x
2
− 2x + 3) dx.
These represent the signed areas of regions I and II, respectively, in the above
picture. To calculate the integrals, you’ll need some formulas that we’ve
developed earlier in this chapter:
Z
1
0
x
2
dx =
1
3
;
Z
1
0
x dx =
1
2
;
Z
1
0
1 dx = 1;
Z
2
1
x
2
dx =
7
3
;
Z
2
1
x dx =
3
2
;
Z
2
1
1 dx = 1.
I leave it to you to work out that
Z
1
0
(−x
2
− 2x + 3) dx =
5
3
and
Z
2
1
(−x
2
− 2x + 3) dx = −
7
3
.
As expected, the first integral is positive since region I is above the axis, and
the second is negative since region II lies below the axis. Also, the sum of
the two integrals is −2/3, which is the signed area (in square units). Now,
here’s the important point: we can get the actual area of region II just by
ignoring the minus sign! This works because the region is entirely below the
x-axis. So the actual area of region II is 7/3 square units, while region I has
area 5/3 square units. The total area is therefore 5/3 + 7/3 = 4 square units.
Effectively, we just took the absolute value of each of the two pieces 5/3 and
−7/3, then added them up.