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In mathematics, a line integral is an integral where the function to be integrated is evaluated along a curve. [1] The terms path integral , curve integral , and curvilinear integral are also used; contour integral is used as well, although that is typically reserved for line integrals in the complex plane .
A definite integral computes the signed area of the region in the plane that is bounded by the graph of a given function between two points in the real line. Conventionally, areas above the horizontal axis of the plane are positive while areas below are negative.
A simple example of such a problem is to find the curve of shortest length connecting two points. If there are no constraints, the solution is a straight line between the points. However, if the curve is constrained to lie on a surface in space, then the solution is less obvious, and possibly many solutions may exist.
In a two- and three-dimensional space, there is an ambiguity in taking an integral between two points as there are infinitely many paths between the two points—apart from the straight line formed between the two points, one could choose a curved path of greater length as shown in the figure.
When rectified, the curve gives a straight line segment with the same length as the curve's arc length. Arc length s of a logarithmic spiral as a function of its parameter θ. Arc length is the distance between two points along a section of a curve.
Given the two red points, the blue line is the linear interpolant between the points, and the value y at x may be found by linear interpolation.. In mathematics, linear interpolation is a method of curve fitting using linear polynomials to construct new data points within the range of a discrete set of known data points.
The slope of the line between these two points is = ... Discrete integral calculus is the study of the definitions, properties, and applications of the Riemann sums.
A line through two points on a curve is called a secant line, so m is the slope of the secant line between (a, f(a)) and (a + h, f(a + h)). The second line is only an approximation to the behavior of the function at the point a because it does not account for what happens between a and a + h.