Let . The expression in part (ii) givesBecause is continuous on , the composite trapezoidal rule converges to its definite integral, which is by part (i). In fact its standard composite trapezoidal error bound is , since . Therefore
For equal strips and a uniform bound on , the composite trapezoidal error bound isOn , part (b) gives : is positive and decreases from after . HenceTo certify error at most , choose ; equality gives exactly in this bound. This is a sufficient certificate, not a claim that every smaller fails in actual numerical error.
Strictly, the maximum specified over the open interval is not attained; its supremum is . Using the maximum on the closed interval, or simply the uniform bound , gives the valid error estimate above.