mcollin5
When trying to find the numerical estimate of arc length would it be best to solve geometrically with pythag, or try and integrate using the arc length formula?
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Finding the numerical estimate of Arc Length
mark
I’m assuming you’re asking about today’s problem sheet, which asked us to find a numerical estimate to the arc length of f(x)=x(2-x) over [0,2]. We found the integral representation
L = \int_0^2 \sqrt{1 + (2-2x)^2}\,dx
and the next step would definitely be to plug that into our numerical integrator!
I get something like 2.9578857.