Try it on paper first. A hint, the key idea and the worked solution are here when you need them.
A map shows a lake. One unit on the map is m. One shore of the lake follows the parabola . The opposite shore is the straight line , and the lake is the region between them, as in the figure.
The two shores meet at two points. The owner wants the area of the water in hectares, where one hectare is . Choose horizontal strips and find the area of the lake in square map units. Convert it to hectares. Then say how many separate integrals you would need if you used vertical strips instead. Write that number as one of your answers. The vertical strips would have to be split where the lower edge of the strips changes from one curve to the other. A program in the solution adds strips by computer and confirms the area. Treat the surface of the lake as flat and ignore the depth of the water, because only the area is asked for.
Split the region at every crossing of the curves, and integrate (upper lower) on each piece. Use horizontal strips, with width (right left), when the curves are given as or when vertical strips would need splitting.
Have you tried it?
Work it out on paper first. It is fine to get stuck or make a mistake: that is how we learn. When you are ready, go through the solution one step at a time, and check each step against your own.
Step 1. Meeting points. gives , so or . The points are and .
Step 2. Horizontal strips. Each strip runs from the parabola on the left to the line on the right. Its width is .
Step 3. The area. square units.
Step 4. Hectares. One square unit is , which is one hectare. So the lake covers hectares.
Step 5. Vertical strips. For from to the strip runs from the lower half of the parabola to the upper half. For from to the bottom is the line. That needs integrals, split at .
Answer: square units, which is hectares, and integrals for vertical strips.
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