Porisma

Worked solution

Use horizontal strips or a trapezium

Without using a calculator, find the area of the region enclosed by y2=4xy^2=4x and y=2x−4y=2x-4.

CJC · Lecture · Example 13

Find both intersections

Substitute the line into the parabola: (2x−4)2=4x(2x-4)^2=4x, so 4x2−20x+16=04x^2-20x+16=0, x2−5x+4=0x^2-5x+4=0 and (x−4)(x−1)=0(x-4)(x-1)=0. Thus (x,y)=(4,4)(x,y)=(4,4) or (1,−2)(1,-2).

How did this part go?

Use horizontal widths

The line is x=(y+4)/2x=(y+4)/2 and the parabola is x=y2/4x=y^2/4. For −2≤y≤4-2\le y\le4, the line is to the right. Therefore A=∫−24[(y+4)/2−y2/4] dy=14∫−24(2y+8−y2) dyA=\int_{-2}^4[(y+4)/2-y^2/4]\,dy=\frac14\int_{-2}^4(2y+8-y^2)\,dy.

How did this part go?

Evaluate exactly

A=14[y2+8y−y3/3]−24=14[(16+32−64/3)−(4−16+8/3)]=9A=\frac14[y^2+8y-y^3/3]_{-2}^4=\frac14[(16+32-64/3)-(4-16+8/3)]=9 square units.

How did this part go?

Alternative trapezium method

The line, y-axis and y=−2,4y=-2,4 enclose a trapezium whose parallel horizontal sides have lengths 1,41,4 and separation 66. The source alternative setup is A=12(4+1)(6)−14∫−24y2 dyA=\frac12(4+1)(6)-\frac14\int_{-2}^4y^2\,dy. Independently evaluating the two terms gives 15−6=915-6=9 square units.

How did this part go?

Compare your sketch

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Right-opening parabola y squared=4x and line y=2x−4 meet at (1,−2) and (4,4). The enclosed region lies between the parabola on the left and line on the right; horizontal bounds are −2 and 4.
Right-opening parabola y squared=4x and line y=2x−4 meet at (1,−2) and (4,4). The enclosed region lies between the parabola on the left and line on the right; horizontal bounds are −2 and 4.
Right-opening parabola y squared=4x and line y=2x−4 meet at (1,−2) and (4,4). The enclosed region lies between the parabola on the left and line on the right; horizontal bounds are −2 and 4.

Common mistakes

Use y limits −2 and 4 for horizontal strips. Right minus left is the line minus the parabola, even though their original equations are written in different forms.

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