The antiderivative (Indefinite
integral)
Notice something important here: taking the
derivative of f(x) may precisely give you g(x), but taking
the antiderivative of g(x) does not necessarily give you f(x)
in its original form. Example:
Note that the constant c is unknown! The
original function f(x) could have been 3x2 + 5,
3x2 + 10, 3x2 + anything, and
the derivative of f(x) would have still been 6x. Determining
the antiderivative of a function, then, is a bit less
certain than determining the derivative of a function. |