Total area for a cubic crossing the x-axis
Difficulty: ★★★
736
Find the total area enclosed by the curve \(y=x^3-x\) and the x-axis.
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Solution:
Factorise:
\(y=x(x-1)(x+1)\), so the roots are \(-1,0,1\).
The curve is above the x-axis on \([-1,0]\) and below on \([0,1]\).
So
\(\displaystyle \text{Area}=\int_{-1}^{0}(x^3-x)\,dx+\int_0^1(x-x^3)\,dx\).
By symmetry, this is
\(\displaystyle 2\int_0^1(x-x^3)\,dx\).
\(\displaystyle \int(x-x^3)\,dx=\frac{x^2}{2}-\frac{x^4}{4}\).
So
\(2\left[\frac{x^2}{2}-\frac{x^4}{4}\right]_0^1=2\left(\frac12-\frac14\right)=\frac12\).
Therefore, the total area is \(\frac12\text{ units}^2\).