# Trapezium rule

1. Nov 7, 2015

### whatisreality

This is not giving me the right answer! I have checked for errors like integer division and rounding, but can't find any. I am aware the comments are slightly inaccurate and they will be improved. But what's wrong with the actual code?
Code (Java):

//This method uses the trapezium rule to calculate the integral
//a is the lower limit, b the upper limit, c is the power of x in the function, N the number of trapezia
//Returns the result of the integral
public static double trapeziumRule(double a, double b, double c, int N){

double h = (b-a)/(N-1);             //h is the width of a single trapezium
double x = 0.5*(f(a,c)+f(b,c));           //x is the average height of the trapezium
for(int i=2; i<N-1; i++){

x += f(a+h*i,c);
}
double integral = h*x;
return integral;
It's probably something in the actual maths... should i run from 2 to N-2? I clearly don't know how to use sum notation properly, since I can't convert $\sum_{i=2}^{N-1}$ into a for statement correctly.

Actually, is that the problem? Should it be i<=N-1? And i starts from 1? That would also affect my formula for h.

Except that doesn't work either.

Last edited: Nov 7, 2015
2. Nov 7, 2015

### whatisreality

Whoops, found the flaw. Difference in the meaning of N in my course notes and the meaning of N in my code!