integral

Pluralintegrals

1. 1
   adjective

   Forming a necessary part of a whole, so it cannot be left out.

   Like a wheel on a car: take it away and the whole thing stops working.

   Trust is an integral part of any lasting friendship.

   Good sleep is integral to staying healthy.

   Similaressential, necessary, intrinsic, inherent, ingrained

   Oppositeperipheral, incidental, inessential, extraneous

   Note
2. 2
   nouncountable

   A math operation that adds up many tiny parts to find a total such as an area or distance.

   Like adding up many thin slices of bread to learn the weight of the whole loaf.

   The integral gives us the area under the curve.

   Students compute their first integral early in calculus class.

   Oppositederivative

   Note
3. 3
   nouncountable

   The final number found by integration, such as an area or a total amount.

   Like adding up the price of every item to reach one final total.

   The integral from zero to four equals sixteen.

   We worked out the integral and got exactly twelve.

   Note
4. 4
   adjective

   In math, having to do with the process of finding an integral.

   Integral calculus helps us measure curved shapes.

   She solved the problem using an integral method.

   Oppositedifferential

   Note
5. 5
   adjective

   In math, being a whole number, or about whole numbers.

   Like counting whole apples: you can have 2 or 3, but not two and a half.

   The answer must be an integral number, like 3 or 7.

   We counted only integral amounts, not fractions.

   Oppositefractional

   Note
6. 6
   nouncountable

   A function found by reversing the process of finding a rate of change.

   Like figuring out a recipe by studying the finished cake.

   The integral of 2x is x squared plus a constant.

   Finding the integral means undoing the derivative.

   Similarantiderivative

   Oppositederivative

   Note
7. 7
   nouncountable

   A formal math version of integration, such as the Riemann or Lebesgue kind.

   The Riemann integral is the first one most students meet.

   A different integral, named after Lebesgue, covers many more functions.

   Note
8. 8
   adjective

   In higher math, being an answer to a special kind of equation built from numbers in a smaller set.

   We checked whether the number was integral over the ring.

   Each integral element solves a monic equation.

   Note

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