<p>Here goes with the Riemann sum piece:</p>
<p>Consider a function f(x) with the following points: (1, 3), (2, 6), (3, 10), (5, 15), (8, 21), (13, 28).</p>
<p>All Riemann sums would consider the five intervals [1, 2], [2, 3], [3, 5], [5, 8], and [8, 13].</p>
<p>When performing a left Riemann sum, you’ll use the left endpoints:</p>
<p>[1, 2]: width = 1, height = f(1) = 3, area = 3
[2, 3]: width = 1, height = f(2) = 6, area = 6
[3, 5]: width = 2, height = f(3) = 10, area = 20
[5, 8]: width = 3, height = f(5) = 15, area = 45
[8, 13]: width = 5, height = f(8) = 21, area = 105
Left Riemann Sum = 3 + 6 + 20 + 45 + 105 = 179</p>
<p>Conversely, a right Riemann sum uses the right endpoints:</p>
<p>[1, 2]: width = 1, height = f(2) = 6, area = 6
[2, 3]: width = 1, height = f(3) = 10, area = 10
[3, 5]: width = 2, height = f(5) = 15, area = 30
[5, 8]: width = 3, height = f(8) = 21, area = 63
[8, 13]: width = 5, height = f(13) = 28, area = 140
Right Riemann sum = 6 + 10 + 30 + 63 + 140 = 249</p>
<p>They’ll rarely ask you to compute both in the same question.</p>
<p>Sometimes, they’ll ask you whether that Riemann sum is an overestimate or an underestimate of the integral. In this particular case, since f(x) is an increasing function, the Left Riemann sum is an underestimate (since there are parts of f(x) under the curve that are not being considered for the area), and the Right Riemann sum is an overestimate (since there are parts that aren’t under f(x) that are being considered for the area).</p>
<p>As far as the 2nd Fundamental Theorem, I’m presuming you’re referring to the d/dx[Integral(a, x) of f(t) dt] = f(x) piece (I’ve seen this referred to as the Fundamental Theorem or the Second Fundamental Theorem, depending on the text). You actually rarely need to show work with these kinds of problems. The ones that I’ve found that most students struggle with has to do with when they give you a graph of a function f(x), and they tell you that g(x) = integral(0, x) of f(t) dt, and then they ask you questions about what g is doing.</p>
<p>The key to these questions is to consistently connect what you’re looking for in g to what they give you in f.</p>
<p>For instance, if they ask you when the graph of g has a relative maximum, well, we know g has a relative maximum when g’ changes from positive to negative. Since g’ = f, we look for where the graph of f changes from positive to negative, and that tells us where g has a relative maximum.</p>
<p>Similarly, if they ask for where g has a point of inflection, we know that g has a point of inflection when g" changes signs. We know that g" = f ', and f ’ changes signs when the graph of f changes either from increasing to decreasing or from decreasing to increasing. So we identify those points.</p>
<p>Hope that helps.</p>