t (hours)R(t) (liters/hour)46.576.2125.9155.6
A tank contains 30 liters of oil at time t=4 hours. Oil is being pumped into the tank at a rate R(t), where R(t)
is measured in liters per hour, and t is measured in hours. Selected values of R(t) are given in the table above. Using a
right Riemann sum with three subintervals and data from the table, what is the approximation of the number of liters of oil that are in the tank at time t=15 hours?
Approach
The amount of oil at t=15 is equal to the amount of oil at t=4 plus 4∫15R(t)dt. We are not given the equation of R(t), but we can estimate the value of the definite integral using a right Riemann sum.