The area under the curve y = x² and the lines x = -1, x = 2 and x-axis is:

Concept:

The area under a Curve by Integration:

Find the area under this curve is by summing horizontally.

In this case, we find the area is the sum of the rectangles, heights y = f(x) and width dx.

We need to sum from left to right.

∴ Area =  \( \mathop \smallint \nolimits_{\rm{a}}^{\rm{b}} {\rm{ydx}} = {\rm{\;}}\mathop \smallint \nolimits_{\rm{a}}^{\rm{b}} {\rm{f}}\left( {\rm{x}} \right){\rm{dx}}\)

Calculation: 

Here, we have to find the area of the region bounded by the curves y = x2, x-axis and ordinates x = -1 and x = 2

So, the area enclosed by the given curves is given by \(\rm \mathop \int \nolimits_{-1}^2{x^2}\;dx\)

As we know that, \(\smallint {{\rm{x}}^{\rm{n}}}{\rm{dx}} = \frac{{{{\rm{x}}^{{\rm{n}} + 1}}}}{{{\rm{n}} + 1}} + {\rm{C}}\)

Area = \(\rm \mathop \int \nolimits_{-1}^2{x^2}\;dx\)

= \( \rm \left[ {\frac{{{x^3}}}{3}} \right]_{-1}^2\)

= \(\left[\frac 83 - \frac {-1}{3}\right] = \frac 93=3\)

Area = 3 sq. units.