Which Quantity is Considered the Upper and Lower Limits in a Definite Integral?

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wahaj
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When taking a definite integral that is bound by two points a and x where a is a constant and x is a variable, which quantity do I consider the upper limit of the integral and which quantity is the lower limit?
[tex]\int^a_x x[/tex]
this integral is written as
[tex]-\int^x_a x[/tex] in my book.
When I use integrals in my dynamics class I can easily tell which limit goes where but this is much tougher in math class because all I am given are random functions to integrate.
 
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ok. I always assumed it didn't really matter, I can't believe I got so many questions right doing what I did.