How to Use the Trapezoidal Rule With Four Equal Subdivisions

The trapezoidal rule is a method of approximating the area under a curve, or, equivalently, the definite integral of a function. When unable to find the integral analytically, but you have the derivative, then you use the trapezoidal rule. Technically, the trapezoidal rule means that there is one trapezoid, rather than four, but the closely related Newton--Cotes formulas allow any number of intervals. The four point rule is called Boole's rule.

Instructions

    • 1

      Subtract the lower limit of the integral from the upper. Divide the result by four. For example, if you want to find the area under the curve y = x^8 from 0 to 1. Subtract 1 - 0 = 1, divide by 4 = 2.5 and the intervals are 0-.25, .25-.5, .5-.75 and .75-1.0. Call these f1, f2, f3, f4 and f5. Call the size of the interval h.

    • 2

      Differentiate the function 6 times. In the example, the first derivative of x^8 is 8x^7, the second derivative is 56x^6, the third is 336x^5, the fourth is 1,680x^4, the fifth is 6,720x^3 and the sixth is 20,160x^2.

    • 3

      Find the point on the whole interval where this function is maximized. Evaluate the function at that point. In the example, the maximum for 20,160x^2 between 0 and 1 is at 1, where it equals 20,160.

    • 4

      Raise h to the 7th power. In the example, .25^7 = .000061.

    • 5

      Multiply the result from step four by 8/945, then multiply by the results in step three. In the example, .0000610 x 8/945 x 2,016 = 0.001042.

    • 6

      Calculate (7 x f1) + (32 x f2) + (12 x f3) + (32 x f4) + (7 x f5). In the example this is 0 + 8 + 6 + 24 + 7 = 45.

    • 7

      Multiply the result from step six by 2/45 multiplied by h. In the example, 45 x 2/45 x .25 = .5.

    • 8

      Subtract the result in step five from the result in step seven to find the estimate. In the example, .5 - .0010402 = 4.998958.

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