A New Proof of Cavalieri's Quadrature Formula

Author(s): N. J. Wildberger
Source: The American Mathematical Monthly, Vol. 109, No. 9 (Nov., 2002), pp. 843-845
Published by: Mathematical Association of America
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REFERENCES
1. K.
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and J.
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Department of
Mathematics,
National
Changhua University of Education,
1 Chinde Road, Changhua
500,
TAIWAN
mcli@math.ncue.edu.tw
(email for M.-C. Li)
A New Proof of
Cavalieri's
Quadrature
Formula
N.
J.
Wildberger
In 1635 Bonaventura Cavalieri
(1598-1647) published
his Geometria
indivisibilibus,
in which he outlined a method to
compute
areas and volumes
by subdividing
re-
gions
into infinite numbers of infinitesimal slices and
suitably rearranging.
Combin-
ing
these ideas with some clever
algebraic manipulations,
he was able to deduce
that
Ja
an+l
xn dx =
Jo
n+1
for
integers
n
=
1, ..., 9,
where the definite
integral
is
by
definition the area between
the function and the x-axis over the interval
[0, a].
On the basis of these results he
stated that the formula was true for
any positive integer
n. Cavalieri's
arguments
were
remarkable not
only
for their
originality
and
subsequent importance
in the
develop-
ment of the
calculus,
but also because
they
were couched in
essentially
a "verbal"
format without the benefit of modem
algebraic
notation. See Struik
[4, pp. 214-219]
for a
snapshot
of his
approach.
Much earlier Archimedes had obtained the
quadrature
of the
parabola (the
case
n
=
2 of the
foregoing) by
several
methods,
including
one
using
mechanical
arguments
(also utilizing infinitesimals)
and one
completely rigorous argument using
exhaustion
(see
Heath
[2], [3],
and Vardi
[5]). Implicit
in his work are
techniques
for
obtaining
November
2002]
NOTES 843
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the sums
k
I +
2
+ +k=
-
(k + 1)
2
and
k
12
+22 + +
k2
(k + 1)(2k + ),
6
which are
proved
in his works "On the
Sphere
and
Cylinder
I" and "On
Spirals."
Subsequently
Fermat, Pascal,
and Roberval each
gave
more or less
rigorous proofs
of Cavalieri's formula for
general positive integral
n
(see,
for
example,
Edwards
[1]).
In
hindsight
we can
interpret
their methods as
utilising
the formula
1
In+2n +
--...-
+kn 1
lim ?
k0oo
kn+l
n +
1
to evaluate a Riemann sum. This is the
approach generally
used
by
modem
texts,
although
n = 2 or 3 is
usually
as far as we
go
before we invoke the Fundamental
Theorem of Calculus.
Here is a
proof
of Cavalieri's formula that uses the
(hidden) symmetry
of the func-
tion
x"
and the Binomial
Theorem, sidestepping
the use of Riemann sums
altogether.
The
symmetry
referred to is not a familiar
translation, reflection,
or
rotation,
nor even
a
similarity;
rather it is a
nonhomogeneous
dilation. We
simply
observe that the
graph
of
y
=
xn
is
unchanged
if dilated in the x-direction
by
a factor of a > 0 and in the
y-direction by
a factor of
an.
We
begin
with a lemma that is a
particular
case of the
integration by
substitution
formula but that follows
immediately
from almost
any
definition of the
integral.
Lemma. For a >
,
fad
u(x)
dx
=
a
fd'
u(ax)
dx.
Proof
The dilation
(x, y)
-+
(ax, y)
takes the
region
under
v(x)
=
u(ax)
from x
=
c
to x
=
d to the
region
under
u(x)
from x = ac to x = ad. Since this dilation
multiplies
areas
by
a factor of
a,
the result follows. 0
Theorem. For a > 0 and n =
0, 1, 2, ...
oa
an+l
a
xn dx
=
an+1
o
n+l
Proof
Let
In xdx
=
An
so that
Ao
= 1.
By
the
lemma,
adXndx
=
an+l xndx.
In
particular,
fo
n
dx
= an+
An.
844
@
THE MATHEMATICAL ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA
[Monthly
109
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For c
satisfying
0
<
c
<
1
it follows that
IXn
dx
=
f
n
dx
- Xn
dx
=
An[1
-
(1
-
c)n+l]
n(n +
1)2
=
An[(n +
1)c
-
-2
+
12
+ (_I)nCn+1].
(1)
2
But
by reflecting
in the line x =
1/2,
we also obtain
xn dx =
(1
--
x)n dx
1-c
fcInx
+
(n -1)X2
. -'
_)n xn
dx
o
2
n(n-
1)c
=
cAo
-
nc2A1
+
n(
A2
-
+
(--)nCn+lAn.
(2)
2
Since the two
polynomials (1)
and
(2)
in c
agree
for all c in
[0, 1],
they
must be
identical.
Comparing
their linear terms
gives
the
required
result
An
=
1/(n
+
1).
0
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. I would like to thank David Tacon for
sparking my
interest in Cavalieri's
argu-
ments,
and both Ilan Vardi and the referee for
helpful
historical remarks.
REFERENCES
1. C. H.
Edwards, Jr.,
The Historical
Development of
the
Calculus,
Springer-Verlag,
New
York,
1979.
2.
T.
H.
Heath,
A
History of
Greek
Mathematics,
vol.
2,
Dover
Publications,
New
York,
1981.
3.
T.
H.
Heath,
The Works
of
Archimedes with the Method
of Archimedes,
Dover
Publications,
New
York,
1897.
4. D. J.
Struik, ed.,
A Source Book in Mathematics, 1200-1800,
Harvard
University Press, Cambridge,
1969.
5.
I. Vardi,
What is ancient
mathematics?,
Math.
Intelligencer
21
(3) (1999)
38-47.
School
of
Mathematics UNSW
Sydney
2052 Australia
n.wildberger@
unsw.edu.au
On Euler's
Constant-Calculating
Sums
by Integrals
Li
Yingying
1. INTRODUCTION. Euler's constant
y
is defined
by
y
=
lim
Dn,
November
2002]
NOTES 845
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