Chapter 13

VECTOR ANALYSIS
13.2 LINE INTEGRALS
IN THIS SECTION, YOU’LL LEARN

 Line integrals of a scalar

 Line integrals of a vector field
LINE INTEGRALS OF A SCALAR
INTERPRETATION OF LINE INTEGRALS
 You can think of the result of a line integral of a function f(x,y,z) over
a curve C as the area of a fence built on a curve C. The height of the
fence varies and is given by the function f(x,y,z).

f(x,y,z)
Curve C

 If C is a wire (not homogeneous) and f(x,y,z) is the density of the wire

at (x,y,z) then  f ( x, y, z )ds gives us the mass of the wire C.
C

 When f(x,y,z)=1, then  ds is the length of C.

C
FORMULA FOR LINE INTEGRALS
 For functions of three variables

 For functions of two variables

Notice: The curve C is only traced out once on the interval [a,b].
Recall that the arc length is
b b
l   ds   r '(t ) dt   x '(t )2   y '(t )2   z '(t )2 dt
C a a
Example:

Solution:
Apply the definition of line integrals


   (sin t )   sin t    2  cos t  dt

2 2 2 2 2
x zds (cos t )
C 0

Let u=cost
 5  (cos t )2 (sin t )dt then du=-sint dt
0

 5  u 2 du
u3 (cos t )3  2 5
 5  5 0 
3 3 3
Example: Evaluate the line integral  (2 xy 3 )ds along the cirle
C

x 2  y 2  4 in the first quadrant.

Solution:
The cirle x 2  y 2  4 in the first quadrant can be
 
parameterized as x  2cos t , y  2sin t , t  0,  .
 2
Apply the definition of line integrals


 2xy ds   2(2cos t )(2sin t ) 2sin t   2cos t  dt

3 3 2 2

C 0  /2
 64  cos t (sin t )3 dt
0
Let u=sint
then du=cost dt
 64 u 3du
 /2
 16u 4  16(sin t )4 0  16
DIY: Evaluate the line integral
 LINE INTEGRAL OF A VECTOR FIELD
 If work is done by a constant force F along a line, 𝑊 = 𝐹𝑑.
 If work is done along a curve and the force F varies, we must
divide the curve into smaller parts and find the work done on
each part. F( Pk* )
 Partition C with points 𝑃0 , 𝑃1 , … , 𝑃𝑛 . On the sub-arc 𝑃𝑘−1 𝑃𝑘 take a
representative point 𝑃𝑘∗ . The work done on the sub-arc 𝑃𝑘−1 𝑃𝑘 is
Pk
Wk  F ( P )  Tk  sk
* Pk*
k
 Take the sum of the work done on all the sub-arcs and then take the
limit as n tends to infinity, it yields the LINE INTEGRAL Tds
n n
W  lim  Wk  lim  F( Pk* )  Tk  sk   F Tds Pk 1
n n
k 1 k 1 C
 Assume that C is parameterized by R(t) and the object moves in the
direction of increasing t. Then
R '(t )
T , ds  R '(t ) dt , so Tds  R '(t )dt
R '(t )
 Thus, the work is also given by the line integral
W   F Tds   F R '(t )dt   F dR
C C C
Example:

Solution:
By the definition of line integral of a vector field,
b

 F  dR   F( x(t ), y(t ), z(t ))  R '(t )dt

C a
1
  (2t )2  t 2 ,2(2t )t , (t 2 ) 2  2t ,2,1 dt
0
1
  (6t 3  8t 2  t 4 )dt
0

t4 t3 t5 119
 6 8  1
0 
4 3 5 30
Example:
Determine the work done by the force field F( x, y)   y, x
along y  x 2  2 from (0,-2) to (2,2).
Solution:
The given curve can be parameterized as
x  t , y  t 2  2, t [0,2]
The work done by the force F along C is given by
b 2
W   F  dR       2, t  1,2t dt
 2
F ( x (t ), y (t ), z (t )) R '(t ) dt t
C a 0
2
  (2  t 2  2 t 2 )dt
0

t3 20
 2t  2
0 
3 3
DIY:
Determine the work done by the force field F( x, y)   xy 2 , x 2
along C, where C is the path in the figure.
DIFFERENTIAL FORM OF LINE INTEGRALS

Line integrals can be written in DIFFERENTIAL FORM. Suppose

F(R(t ))  P, Q, R , then
b b

 F  dR   F(R(t ))  R '(t )dt  

C a a
P, Q, R  x '(t ), y '(t ), z '(t ) dt
b
   Px '(t )  Qy '(t )  Rz '(t ) dt
a
b
  ( Pdx  Qdy  Rdz )
a
Example:
Evaluate the line integral  ydx  z 2 dy  xdz along the curve
C

R(t )  2t , t 2 , t in the interval 0  t  4.

Solution:
This is a line integral in differential form. So,
b

   
  y '(t )  xz '(t ) dt
2 2
ydx z dy xdz = yx '(t ) z
C a

 t  (2tdt )  2t 2
4
2 1
  t (2dt ) 
2
dt
0 t
4
  (2t 2  2t 2  t )dt
0

t 3 2 3/2 272
4  t 4
0 
3 3 3
NOW, YOU’VE LEARNT

 Line integrals of a scalar

 Line integrals of a vector field
QUESTIONS?