Answer:
Explanation:
The length of a curve can refer to the arc length of a function, or the distance along a curved path between two points.
Arc Length of a Function:
For a continuous and differentiable function y = f(x) defined over an interval [a, b], the arc length of the curve between x = a and x = b can be found using the following definite integral:
L = ∫_a^b √(1 + (dy/dx)^2) dx
Where L is the arc length, dy/dx is the derivative of the function with respect to x, and the integral is taken from x = a to x = b.
Length of a Curved Path:
For a curved path defined by a continuous and differentiable function y = f(x), the length of the path between two points (x1, y1) and (x2, y2) can be found using the same definite integral formula as the arc length of a function:
L = ∫_(x1)^(x2) √(1 + (dy/dx)^2) dx
Where L is the length of the path and the integral is taken from x = x1 to x = x2.
Note that finding the exact length of a curve can sometimes be difficult and may require numerical methods such as numerical integration or approximation techniques like Simpson's rule.