
268
Understanding Calculus
Wecan also write (43.5)as
l
(C' d)
. dF =F(c, d) - F(a, b)
(a, b)
(43.6)
(43.7)
to emphasizethe similaritywith one-variable integration. For an exact differential, the line
integralis independent of path, and dependsonly on the end points of the curve.
EXAMPLE
43.1
Giventhat 2xy dx +(x
2
+
3y2)
dy is exact,find a functionF(x, y) such that dF(x,y) is the differential,
anduse
F(x,y) to calculate fc2xy dx + (x
2
+
3y2)
dy whereC is the arc of the circle(x - 2)2+ (y -
1)2
= 1
from(2, 2) to (3, 1).
Solution
SinceFx(x,y) = 2xy,F(x,y) is the x-antiderivative of2xy:
F(x,y)
= f
2xydx=x
2y+CP(Y).
Herey is consideredconstant, and the arbitraryfunction
CP(Y)
is a "constant of integration". Now use
Fy(x,
y) = Q(x,y):
a
Fix,y)
=
ay
[xly +
CP(Y)]
= xl +
cp'(Y);
Q(x,y)
=x
2
+
3y2.
Hence
cp'(y)
=
3y2,
CP(Y)
= y.
Finally,
F(x,y)
=x
2y
+ y.
(43.8)
(43.9)
Now to calculatethe line integral,we forgetabout the curve C, and just evaluate F(x, y) at the
endpoints:
l2xy
dx+(xl +
3y2)
dy = F(3, 1) - F(2, 2)
c
= 3
2
•
1 + 1- (2
2
•
2 + 2
3
)
=
10-16
=-6.
Nowthe questionarises:how do we knowwhethera differential Pdx + Qdy is exact or
not? There is an obviousnecessary condition. If P(x, y)
=
Fx(x,
y) and Q(x,y) =
Fy(x,
y), then
we must have
P=F
=F
=Q.
y xy
yx
x
If Pdx
+ Qdy is exact, then Q
x
= P
y'
It turns out that the condition Q
x
= P
y
is also sufficient
for Pdx
+Qdy to be exact,at least with a little quibblingaboutthe geometryof the region.
If Q
x
= P
y
in the whole plane, then the integral of Pdx + Qdy will be independent of
path. To see this, let C
1
and C
2
be two curves from (a, b) to (c, d), then C
1
-
C
2
is a closed
curve (Figure43.1), and since
Q
x
-
P
y
==
0 inside C
1
-
C
2
,
the line integralaroundthe bound-
ary curve is zero by Green'sTheorem. That is,
I Pdx +Qdy=I Pdx + Qdy
C
1
C
2
for any two curves with the same end points. If C
1
and C
2
intersect each other on the way
from
(a, b) to (c, d), then we apply Green's Theorem to each loop (Figure43.2) and get the
sameresult.
If Q
x
=P
y
so that the integralof Pdx + Qdy is independentof path, then we can define
a functionF(x,
y) by