View Full Version : Integral with a twist
Apteronotus
Apr6-10, 02:18 PM
How can the following integral be approached?
\int f(t) \sqrt{dt}
thanks in advance.
Ben Niehoff
Apr6-10, 02:23 PM
I'm pretty sure it's meaningless. The units don't work out.
However, it would make sense to write something like
\int_C f(x,y) \sqrt{dx^2 + dy^2}
where C is some contour.
There was a long argument about this in one of the forums a few months ago. But Apteronotus will have to give us a context before we can say anything about it.
lugita15
Apr9-10, 09:27 PM
It doesn't make sense. Since \sqrt{x+dx} = \sqrt{x} + \frac{dx}{2\sqrt{x}}, it follows that \sqrt{dx} = dx/0, which is of course meaningless.
lugita15
Apr9-10, 09:30 PM
There was a long argument about this in one of the forums a few months ago. But Apteronotus will have to give us a context before we can say anything about it. Do you have a link to this thread? I'd be interested in reading it.
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