Mathematics Analysis and Approaches SL

Internal Assessment

Research Question:
How can we calculate the amount of paint required to cover the Apple logo and the length of material needed
to outline its boundary using integral calculus?

Candidate Code: lsr906

Session: May 2025
Course: Mathematics Analysis and Approaches SL
Introduction
first learned to calculate the volumes of simple geometric solids like cubes, cones, cylinders, and spheres in
fifth grade. Their straightforward formulas made these calculations easy, but irregular shapes such as
company logos pose greater challenges. Unlike basic geometric figures, they have complex curves and
boundaries that require advanced mathematical approaches, including calculus.
In IB, I was introduced to differentiation and integration, learning how integration can determine volumes and
surface areas of irregular shapes. This expanded my understanding beyond simple formulas.
One day, I saw workers spraying a large Apple logo on a building and wondered how much paint was needed,
how long its boundary was, or even its volume if molded into a solid. These questions naturally connected to
my calculus studies.
Inspired by this, I plan to explore the Apple logo’s surface area and boundary length using integral calculus.
This investigation combines my interest in mathematics with real-world applications, forming the basis of my
IA.

DIFFERENTIATION
The slope of linear functions remains constant at every point on the line. This implies that the rate of change
of y with respect to x remains the same. However, this is not the case for nonlinear functions. In the case of a
nonlinear function, the gradient of the tangent changes as we move along the curve ([Link]). This is why
we determine and express a gradient
function that provides the tangent for any given value of x (Haese and Michael 2019). Differentiation is the
process of computing a derivative or gradient function. A derivative function represents the gradient of
y=f (x ) and is denoted as f ' ( x). The derivative f ' ( x) is obtained by differentiating y with respect to x and is
dy
represented as (Haese and Michael 2019).
dx

INTEGRATION
Integration is the reverse process of differentiation. It involves finding a function f (x) when its derivative
'
f ( x) is already known. This process is also known as antidifferentiation.

Indefinite Integral: Represents a family of functions and includes a constant Integral C . It is written as:
 b

∫ f (x)dx=F (x)+C
a

Where F (x) is the antiderivative of f (x)

Definite Integral: Calculates the area under a curve between two points a and b. It is written as

∫ f (x)dx
a

The result is a number representing the net area between curve and the x-axis from x=a ¿ x=b

This Internal assessment will use the following formulae:

1. Area under the curve

b
A=∫ f (x )dx
a

2. Total Surface Area:

b
S=2 π ∫ yds
a

For region 1
 Similarly Done for all the other regions

Approximating the region 1 with a general polynomial function

Therefor the function for the first region is:1.15817329031+29.814747616 x−¿

2 3 4 5 6
173.162442606 x + 610.159793888 x −1374.94117393 x +2096.13549516 x −2248.53780837 x +1740.7090

Calculations:
4.464

∫ (1.15+ 29.81 x 1−173.16 x 21 +610.15 x31 −1374.93 x 14+ 2096.12 x 51−2248.52 x 61 +1740.70 x71 −¿ 986.86 x 81 +412.02 x 91−
0.08
Computing the indefinite integral
Each term integrated using:
n+1
x
∫ x n dx= n+1

¿ ∫ 1.15817329031 dx=1.15817329031 x
2
x
¿ ∫ 29.814747616 xdx=29.814747616
2
=14.907373808 x
2
3
x
¿ ∫ −173.162442606 x dx =−173.162442606
2 3
=−57.720814202 x
3
4
x
¿ ∫ 610.159793888 x dx =610.159793888
3 4
=152.539948472 x
4
5
x
¿ ∫ −1374.94117393 x dx=−1374.94117393
4 5
=−274.988234786 x
5
6
x
¿ ∫ 2096.13549516 x dx=2096.13549516
5 6
=349.35591586 x
6
7
x
¿ ∫ −2248.53780837 x dx=−2248.53780837 =−321.21968691 x
6 7
7
8
x
¿ ∫ 1740.7090422 x dx=1740.7090422 =217.588630275 x
7 8
8
9
x
¿ ∫ −986.873239479 x dx=−986.8239479
8 9
=−109.652582164 x
9
10
x
¿ ∫ 412.030671152 x dx=412.030671152
9 10
=41.2030671152 x
10
11
x
¿ ∫ −126.263873847 x dx =−126.263873847 x
10 11 11
=−11.4785339852 x
11
12
x
¿ ∫ 28.009678334 x dx=28.009678334
11 12
=2.3341398617 x
12
13
x
¿ ∫ −4.37090507822 x dx=−4.37090507822
12 13
=−0.33622346755 x
13
14
x
¿ ∫ 0.454556390123 x dx=0.454556390123
13 14
=0.03246831358 x
14
15
x
¿ ∫ −0.028259337 x dx=−0.028259337
14 15
=−0.0018839558 x
15
 16
x
∫ 0.000794010540 x dx=0.000794010540
15
16
=0.000049625659 x
16

Evaluate from x=0.08 ¿ x=4.464

I =F (4.464)−F(0.08)

Using numerical
F (4.464)≈ 18.6638 , F (0.08)≈ 0.1651

Thus,
I =18.6638−0.1651=18.4987
4.464

∫ f (x) dx ≈18.4987
0.08

For Region 2
 Therefor the function for the Second region is:
2 3 4 5 6
3.1864965−9.8110965 x +21.535591 x −30.89721 x +26.54964 x −14.040361 x +4.7685663 x −1.0637787

Calculations

4.784

∫ 2 3 4 5
(3.1864965−9.8110965 x +21.535591 x −30.89721 x +26.54964 x −14.040361 x +4.7685663 x −1.0637787 x
6 7

0.103

3.588

( )
2 3 4 5 6
2802.35+5118.31 x 3−3862.90 x 3+ 1543.07 x3 −343.66 x3 +40.41 x 3−1.95 x3
∫ ❑
2.424

3.588

( )
2 3 4 5 6
6241.24−13055.23 x 4 +11357.45 x 4−5255.70 x 4 +1364.37 x 4−188.39 x 4 +10.80 x 4
∫ ❑
2.424