To find an antiderivative of
f(
y), we go through
our list of integration methods:
- Recognize elementary antiderivatives
- Rewrite the integrand to make it easier
- Use substitution to reverse the chain rule or simplify the
integrand
- Use integration by parts
- Use inspection to see the value of a definite
integral
to find one that works for this integrand. In this case,
only one method is appropriate. We use substitution to rewrite the integrand in terms of
w = 4 -
y2.
This is shown below.
Substitution:
Let
w = 4 -
y2. Then
w' = -2
y, so
(-1/2)
dw =
y dy.
The integral can therefore be rewritten as

[
y / sqrt(4 -
y2) ]
dy =
w-1/2 (-1/2)
dw =
-sqrt(
w) +
C
Thus, substituting back for
w,

[
y / sqrt(4 -
y2) ]
dy =
-sqrt(4 -
y2) +
C
To evaluate the definite integral, we take this antiderivative,
evaluate it at the endpoints of the integral (0 and 1),
and take the difference of the values. This gives
[ -sqrt(4 - (1)2) ] - [ -sqrt(4 - (0)2) ] = 2 - sqrt(3).