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Module 1.2 · Topic 1
Module 1.2 · Topic 1
Adding up change to find a total
A dissolved tracer flows past a monitoring point in a stream. Its mass flow rate isn't constant — it rises as the tracer plume passes through. After two seconds, how much tracer has actually gone by? Multiplying rate by time doesn't work, because the rate never sits still.
The tracer's flow rate changes at every instant, following r(t) = 3t² grams per second. What gives you the total mass that has passed by after two seconds?
A definite integral of a rate function over an interval represents:
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