Graph Area Calculation Toolkit 1.0

Version #

Author

Development Time

86 - 1.0

daniel.l@mindspring.com

several hours

Graph Area Calculation Toolkit 1.0 is not a single program, but a collection of three programs by me, daniel.l@mindspring.com, that computer the area below the graph of a function by different methods. The programs should be very much self-explanatory, but I want to give a good explanation of what each program does to make it easier.

The program AreaRiem and AreaTrap are similar programs which approximate the area under a graph of a function by drawing rectangles or trapezoids under the graph and finding the sum of their areas. Why do this? Although integration is a much more accurate way to calculate the area under the graph, you may be asked to find the area using a specific technique.

To use the program AreaRiem, open the program and press [1] when the menu is displayed to designate a function. Input the function at the prompt. Then press [2] at the menu again to designate the upper and lower bounds for your calculation. After entering this information, the menu will appear again. Pressing [3] switches between using left Riemman sums, midpoint Riemman sums, right Riemman sums, and another option which will use integration to determine the exact area under the graph. Press [6] to determine the maximum y-value of your graph viewing window and the minimum y-value of your graph viewing window. After you have entered in these values, press [5] or [GRAPH] to see the graph of the function and the approximation of the area using the method you specified. To return to the menu, press [ENTER]. To quit the program, press [EXIT].

The program AreaTrap works exactly the same way as the AreaRiem program using trapazoids instead of rectangles. Take note that AreaTrap and AreaRiem use the same variables in the calculators memory, so you can switch between the two programs without re-entering all the information.

The program AreaBtw is a simple program that calculates the area between two the graphs of two functions. You simply enter the equations of the two functions and the values of the intervals between which you want to calculate.