Q.Find the area enclosed between y=cosx and X-axis between the limits: 0≤x≤2π
Concept understanding — Area under a Curve
The area under a curve y=f(x), bounded by the X-axis and two vertical lines x=a and x=b, is found by slicing the region into a very large number of extremely thin vertical strips, each of width dx and height y=f(x), and adding up their areas. This sum, in the limit as the strips become infinitesimally thin, is exactly the definite integral ∫abf(x)dx -- so the same tool built in the previous chapter to evaluate integrals now directly measures plane area.
If the curve lies on or above the X-axis throughout [a,b], the integral itself gives the area. But an area can never be negative, so if the curve dips below the X-axis, the raw integral comes out negative and its absolute value must be taken to get the true area. If the curve changes sign somewhere inside the interval -- crossing the X-axis at an interior point -- the interval has to be split at that crossing point, the area of each piece found and made positive on its own, and the two positive areas added; a single integral taken across the whole interval would let the positive and negative parts cancel and understate the actual area.
The same idea works the other way round: when a curve is more naturally written as x=g(y), the area between the curve, the Y-axis, and two horizontal lines y=c and y=d is found by summing horizontal strips instead, giving ∫cdxdy. Deciding whether to integrate with respect to x or y is simply a matter of which form keeps the calculation simplest for the particular curve in the problem. This idea also underlies standard results such as the area of a circle or an ellipse, both of which can be derived by integrating one quadrant and using the curve's symmetry, and the area of a sector cut off from a circle by a straight line.
cosx is non-negative on [0,π/2], so this is a direct integral.
1 sq. unit
A=∫0π/2cosxdx=[sinx]0π/2=sin2π−sin0=1−0=1
1 sq. unit
Recall that the antiderivative of cos x is sin x, and that cos x >= 0 on the whole of this first quadrant interval so no splitting is needed.
Confusing the antiderivatives of sin x and cos x (writing -sin x instead of sin x for the integral of cos x).
- CBSE 2026Set MARCH1 markMCQQ.The area bounded by the parabola y2=4x bounded by its latus rectum is :(a) 372 sq.units(b) 316 sq.units(c) 31 sq.units(d) 38 sq.units
›Reveal solutionSolution
The parabola y2=4x has a=1; the latus rectum is x=1. Area =38 sq.units.
Compare y2=4x with the standard form y2=4ax: 4a=4⇒a=1. The latus rectum is the vertical line x=a=1. The region is bounded by the parabola and this line, symmetric about the x-axis, so
A=2∫01ydx=2∫012xdx=4∫01x1/2dx.
=4[3/2x3/2]01=4⋅32[x3/2]01=38(1−0)=38.
✓Final answerOption (d) 38 sq.units.
- CBSE 2025Set MARCH1 markMCQQ.Area bounded by the curve y=∣x∣ between the limits 0 and 2 is :(a) 2 sq. units(b) 1 sq. unit(c) 4 sq. units(d) 3 sq. units
›Reveal solutionSolution
For x≥0, ∣x∣=x; the bounded area is ∫02xdx=2 square units, option (a).
Simplify the curve. For 0≤x≤2, ∣x∣=x, so y=x.
Area under the curve.
A=∫02xdx=[2x2]02=24−0=2.
Geometrically this is a right triangle of base 2 and height 2: 21(2)(2)=2, confirming the result.
✓Final answerOption (a) 2 sq. units.
- CBSE 2024Set MARCH1 markMCQQ.Area bounded by y=∣x∣ between the limits 0 and 2 is :(a) 2 sq. units(b) 1 sq. unit(c) 4 sq. units(d) 3 sq. units
›Reveal solutionSolution
On [0,2], y=∣x∣=x, so the area is ∫02xdx=2 sq. units.
Between x=0 and x=2 the graph y=∣x∣ coincides with the line y=x through the origin, which lies above the x-axis. The bounded area is
A=∫02∣x∣dx=∫02xdx=[2x2]02=24−0=2.
✓Final answerOption (a) 2 sq. units.
- CBSE 2024Set MARCH1 markMCQQ.Area bounded by y=ex between the limits 0 to 1 is :(a) (1−e1) sq. units(b) (e+1) sq. units(c) (e−1) sq. units(d) (1+e1) sq. units
›Reveal solutionSolution
Area =∫01exdx=[ex]01=e−1 sq. units.
Since ex>0 throughout [0,1], the region between the curve and the x-axis has area
A=∫01exdx=[ex]01=e1−e0=e−1.
✓Final answerOption (c) (e−1) sq. units.
- CBSE 2022Set ANNUAL1 markMCQQ.The area of the region bounded by the curve y=x2, x=0, x=3, and the X-axis is ______.(a) 9 sq.units(b) 326 sq.units(c) 352 sq.units(d) 18 sq.units
›Reveal solutionSolution
The required area is ∫03x2dx=[3x3]03=9 square units.
The region is bounded above by the curve y=x2, below by the X-axis, and between the lines x=0 and x=3. Since y=x2≥0 throughout, the area equals
A=∫03ydx=∫03x2dx.
Evaluating:
A=[3x3]03=333−303=327=9.
✓Final answerThe area is 9 square units — option (a).
- CBSE 2020Set MARCH1 markMCQQ.Area bounded by y=∣x∣ between the limits 0 and 2 is :(a) 4 sq.units(b) 1 sq.unit(c) 3 sq.units(d) 2 sq.units
›Reveal solutionSolution
Between 0 and 2, ∣x∣=x, so the required area is ∫02xdx=[2x2]02=2 sq.units.
Step 1 — Simplify ∣x∣ on the interval. For x∈[0,2], x≥0, hence y=∣x∣=x.
Step 2 — Set up and evaluate the definite integral.
Area=∫02∣x∣dx=∫02xdx=[2x2]02=24−0=2.
✓Final answerOption (d) 2 sq.units.
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