Jim Lambers

MAT 280
Spring Semester 2009-10
Lecture 17 Notes
These notes correspond to Section 13.2 in Stewart and Section 7.2 in Marsden and Tromba.

Line Integrals
Recall from single-variable calclus that if a constant force is applied to an object to move it along
a straight line from = to = , then the amount of work done is the force times the distance,
= ( ). More generally, if the force is not constant, but is instead dependent on so that
the amount of force applied when the object is at the point is given by (), then the work done
is given by the integral

=
() .

This result is obtained by applying the basic formula for work along each of subintervals of
width = ( )/, and taking the limit as 0.
Now, suppose that a force is applied to an object to move it along a path traced by a curve
, instead of moving it along a straight line. If the amount of force that is being applied to
the object at any point p on the curve is given by the value of a function (p), then the
work can be approximated by, as before, applying the basic formula for work to each of line
segments that approximate the curve and have lengths 1 , 2 , . . . , . The work done on the
th segment is approximately (p ) , where p is any point on the segment. By taking the limit
as max 0, we obtain the line integral

=
(p) =
lim
(p ) ,

max 0

=1

provided that this limit exists.

In order to actually evaluate a line integral, it is necessary to express the curve in terms
of parametric equations. For concreteness, we assume that is a plane curve dened by the
parametric equations
= (), = (), .
Then, if we divide [, ] into subintervals of width = ( )/, with endpoints [1 , ] where
= + , we can approximate by line segments with endpoints ((1 ), (1 )) and
(( ), ( )), for = 1, 2, . . . , . From the Pythagorean Theorem, it follows that the th segment
has length
(
)
(
)

2
2
2
2
= + =
+
,

where = ( ) (1 ) and = ( ) (1 ). Letting 0, we obtain

( )
( )2

((), ())
(p) =
+
.

We recall that if (, ) 1, then this integral yields the arc length of the curve .
Example (Stewart, Section 13.2, Exercise 8) To evaluate the line integral

where is the line segment from (0, 6, 1) to (4, 1, 5), we rst need parametric equations for the
line segment. Using the vector between the endpoints,
v = 4 0, 1 6, 5 (1) = 4, 5, 6,
we obtain the parametric equations
= 4,

= 6 5,

= 1 + 6,

0 1.

It follows that

2 =

(())2 () [ ()]2 + [ ()]2 + [ ()]2

(4)2 (6 1) 42 + (5)2 + 62

162 (6 1) 77
0
1 3
6 2
= 16 77

)1
( 4

3 
= 16 77 6
4
3 0
(
)

3 1
= 16 77

2 3

56 77
.
=
3

Example (Stewart, Section 13.2, Exercise 10) We evaluate the line integral

(2 + 9)

where is dened by the parametric equations

= 2 ,

= ,

= 3 ,

0 1.

We have

(2 + 9) =

(2() + 9()) [ ()]2 + [ ()]2 + [ ()]2

0
1

(2 + 93 ) 12 + (2)2 + (32 )2

=
=
=
=

(2 + 93 ) 1 + 42 + 94
0

1 14 1/2
, = 1 + 42 + 94
4 1

1 2 3/2 14

4 3
1
1 3/2
(14 1).
6

Although we have introduced line integrals in the context of computing work, this approach can
be used to integrate any function along a curve. For example, to compute the mass of a wire that
is shaped like a plane curve , where the density of the wire is given by a function (, ) dened
at each point (, ) on , we can evaluate the line integral

=
(, ) .

It follows that the center of mass of the wire is the point (

, ) where

1
1

=
(, ) , =
(, ) .


Now, suppose that a vector-valued force F is applied to an object to move it along the path
traced by a plane curve . If we approximate the curve by line segments, as before, the work done
along the th segment is approximately given by
= F(p ) [T(p ) ]
where p is a point on the segment, and T(p ) is the unit tangent vector to the curve at this point.
That is, F T = F cos is the amount of force that is applied to the object at each point on the
3

curve, where is the angle between F and the direction of the curve, which is indicated by T. In
the limit as max 0, we obtain the line integral of F along ,

F T .

If the curve is parametrized by the the vector equation r() = (), (), where , then
the tangent vector is parametrized by
T() = r ()/r (),

and, as before, = [ ()]2 + [ ()]2 = r () . It follows that

r ()
F(r())
F r.
F T =
F(r()) r () =
r () =
r ()

The last form of the line integral is merely an abbreviation that is used for convenience. As with
line integrals of scalar-valued functions, the parametric representation of the curve is necessary for
actual evaluation of a line integral.
Example (Stewart, Section 13.2, Exercise 20) We evaluate the line integral

F r

where F(, , ) = , , and is the curve dened by the parametric vector equation
r() = (), (), () = , sin , cos ,

0 .

We have

F r =

0
=

F(r()) r ()
(), (), () (), (), ()

0
cos , sin , 1, cos , sin

=
0
=

[cos + sin cos + sin ]

=
cos +
sin cos +
sin
0
0
0



1

2 
= sin 0 + sin  cos 0 +
cos
2
0
0
= .
0


If we write F(, ) = (, ), (, ), where and are the component functions of F, then
we have

F r =
F(r()) r ()

=
((), ()), ((), ()) (), ()

((), ()) () .
((), ()) () +
=

When the curve is approximated by line segments, as before, the dierence in the -coordinates
of each segment is, by the Mean Value Theorem,
= ( ) (1 ) ( ) ,
where 1 . For this reason, we write

((), ()) () =

((), ()) () =

and conclude

F r =

+ .

These line integrals of scalar-valued functions can be evaluated individually to obtain the line
integral of the vector eld F over . However, it is important to note that unlike line integrals
with respect to the arc length , the value of line integrals with respect to or (or , in 3-D)
depends on the orientation of . If the curve is traced in reverse (that is, from the terminal point
to the initial point), then the sign of the line integral is reversed as well. We denote by the
curve with its orientation reversed. We then have

F r =
F r,

and

All of this discussion generalizes to space curves (that is, curves in 3-D) in a straightforward manner,
as illustrated in the examples.
5

Example (Stewart, Section 13.2, Exercise 6) Let F(, ) = sin , cos and let be the curve
that is the top half of the circle 2 + 2 = 1, traversed counterclockwise from (1, 0) to (1, 0), and
the line segment from (1, 0) to (2, 3). To evaluate the line integral

sin + cos ,
F T =

we consider the integrals over the semicircle, denoted by 1 , and the line segment, denoted by 2 ,
separately. We then have

sin + cos .
sin + cos +
sin + cos =
2

For the semicircle, we use the parametric equations

= cos ,

= sin ,

0 .

This yields

sin + cos =

sin(cos )( sin ) + cos(sin ) cos

cos(cos )0 + sin(sin )0

= cos(1) + cos(1)
= 0.
For the line segment, we use the parametric equations
= 1 ,

= 3,

0 1.

This yields

sin(1 )(1) + cos(3)(3)

sin + cos =
0

cos(1 )10 + sin(3)10

= cos(2) + cos(1) + sin(3) sin(0)

= cos(2) + cos(1) + sin(3).
We conclude

sin + cos = cos(1) cos(2) + sin(3).

In evaluating these integrals, we have taken advantage of the rule

(()) () = (()) (()),

from the Fundamental Theorem of Calculus and the Chain Rule. However, this shortcut can only
be applied when an integral involves only one of the independent variables.
Example (Stewart, Section 13.2, Exercise 12) We evaluate the line integral

F r

where
F(, , ) = (, , ), (, , ), (, , ) = , , ,
and is dened by the parametric equations
= 2 ,

= 3 ,

= 2 ,

0 1.

We have

F r =

+ +

() () + () () + () ()

2 (2) + 2 (32 ) + 3 (2)

=
0

23 + 34 + 24

=
0

(54 + 23 )

=
=

( 5
)1

4 
5 +2
5
4 0
3
.
2

Practice Problems
Practice problems from the recommended textbooks are:
Stewart: Section 13.2, Exercises 1-13 odd, 17, 19, 27, 29, 33, 35
Marsden/Tromba: Section 7.2, Exercises 1, 3, 7, 9