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Approximation for Numerical Problems (cont)

Example: Length of a Curve

Estimate length: approximate curve as sequence of straight lines.

[Diagram:Pic/curveLength.png] 

length=0, δ=(end-start)/StepSize
for each x∈[start+δ,start+2δ,..,end] do
   length = length + sqrt(δ2 + (f(x)-f(x-δ))2)
end for