Constant of integration Created 2026-10-14 Updated 2026-10-31
On a connected open interval, if , every antiderivative of has the form , where is a constant function. Indeed, two solutions satisfy : the zero derivative on a connected open set principle makes their difference constant. In one dimension, the mean value theorem proves this on any closed subinterval. [ref]
https://www.jirka.org/ra/html/sec_mvt.html. Lebl, Basic Analysis I, Proposition 4.2.6: zero derivative on an interval
An initial condition or boundary condition can determine . If a particular antiderivative is and , thenFor , and , this gives . Without that reference value, choosing simply selects one member of the family.
The freedom has a physical meaning in a simple kinematic model. A velocity , with constant acceleration , determines position only as . The initial condition selects ; changing the starting position does not change the prescribed velocity.
For the differential equation on , the antiderivative is . The boundary condition gives . Discarding the constant of integration therefore needs a specified condition or an approximation that quantifies its effect. On a domain with several connected components, the freedom is larger: antiderivatives on disconnected domains require a separate constant on each component.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2020 ia Paper 1 9D b i Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-29
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2023 ib Paper 3 11G Solution Created 2026-09-23 Updated 2026-10-14
For , the function is differentiable at if there is a linear map such thatThe linear map is unique and is the Fréchet derivative . The function is continuously differentiable at if it is differentiable on a neighbourhood of and the map , with values in the space of linear maps equipped with the operator norm, is continuous at .
If is linear, thenConsequently at every . The derivative is a constant function of , hence is continuous, so every linear map is continuously differentiable everywhere.
The mean value inequality says that if the line segment lies in andthenTo prove it, put . The claim is immediate if . Otherwise set and apply the one-dimensional mean value theorem to the real-valued functionFor some , the chain rule givesas required.
Now suppose that is open and connected and that for every . Every point has an open ball contained in . The mean value inequality with shows that is constant on each such ball, so is locally constant. Fix . The level setis nonempty and open in ; its complement is also open because is locally constant. Since is connected, . This proves the zero derivative on a connected open set result: is constant.
The inverse function theorem states that if is continuously differentiable, , and is an invertible linear map, then there are open neighbourhoods of and of such that is a bijection whose inverse is continuously differentiable.
For the curve in the question, define the continuously differentiable functionThenThe implicit function theorem, which follows from the inverse function theorem applied to , therefore gives an open interval containing , an open neighbourhood of , and a continuously differentiable, hence continuous, function such that