# Express the given limit as a definite integral

I'm supposed to convert this limit to a definite integral but I'm not sure how I'm supposed to do it.

$$\lim_{n\to \infty}\sum_{i=1}^n \left(\frac{1}{n}\right)\cdot\sqrt{ \frac i{n}}$$

Would appreciate some help/guidelines on how to tackle problems like this because I haven't found that many great sources to learn from when Googling it. My textbook is also really vague on this and doesn't really explain it or include examples.

• What is $\Delta x$? Once you recognize that, what is $f(x_i^*)$? From this, you can determine what $f(x)$ is and the bounds for the integral. – Clayton Feb 14 '18 at 21:02
• It's the limit of Riemann sums for $\int_0^1f.$ What is $f$ in this case? – zhw. Feb 14 '18 at 21:05
• I would assume that $f(x) = \sqrt x$ here? And $\Delta x$ is equal to $\frac 1 {n}$ ? – gbgult Feb 14 '18 at 21:08
• For any $f\in C^0([0,1])$ we have that $$\lim_{n\to +\infty}\frac{1}{n}\sum_{k=1}^{n}f\left(\frac{k}{n}\right) = \int_{0}^{1}f(x)\,dx.$$ In your case $f(x)=\sqrt{x}$ gives that the limit equals $\frac{2}{3}$. – Jack D'Aurizio Feb 14 '18 at 21:12
• @JackD'Aurizio is the $f$ in the sum necessarily the same $f$ of the integral? To me it seems that only on $\mathbb{Q}$ they have to give the same picture. Since for example for no $k,n\in \mathbb{N}\quad f(k/n)=f(1/\sqrt{2}).$ I accept that the result is the same but the functions don't have to be the same, right? – ty. Feb 14 '18 at 21:43

By inspection, this looks like a Riemann sum of some function where the partition consists of $n$ evenly spaced points between $0$ and $1$. That is, if $f(x)=\sqrt{x}$, and $P=\{0,1/n,2/n,\ldots, n/n\}$, then a (uppeR) Riemann sum of this function over $P$ is $$\sum_{i=1}^n\left(\frac{i+1}{n}-\frac{i}{n}\right)f\left(\frac{i}{n}\right)=\sum_{I=1}^n\frac{1}{n}\sqrt{\frac{i}{n}}.$$
Since $f$ is integrable on $0,1$, this converges to $\int_0^1 f$ as $n\to\infty$.
• Is there some "general things" that I should start looking for in problems like this to see what $\Delta x$ etc is? This was a pretty easy question so I guess it won't be as simple for me going forward to more advanced stuff. Also, I don't really get how you get that $( \frac {i+1} {n} - \frac i {n}) f( \frac i {n})$ is equal to the sigma notation in my post? – gbgult Feb 14 '18 at 22:19