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remove abs() from trapezoidal rule segment sum#2

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fix/trapezoidal-remove-abs
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remove abs() from trapezoidal rule segment sum#2
HrachShah wants to merge 1 commit into
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fix/trapezoidal-remove-abs

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@HrachShah

@HrachShah HrachShah commented Jun 8, 2026

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The trapezoidal_area function in maths/area_under_curve.py wraps the per-segment trapezoid sum in abs(...), which forces the running total to be non-negative.

The trapezoidal rule is a signed-area approximation: each linear segment between (x1, f(x1)) and (x2, f(x2)) contributes (f(x1) + f(x2)) * (x2 - x1) / 2 to the running total. The previous code wrapped that in abs(), which forced the running total to be non-negative. For functions that are positive in the test range the abs() was a no-op and the existing doctests passed, but two natural cases broke:

  • f(x) = -x**2 from -1.0 to 1.0 returned +0.6666... instead of -0.6666...
  • f(x) = x from -2.0 to 2.0 returned 4.0 instead of 0 (the symmetric linear function integrates to zero across the origin)

The doctests use f(x)=5 and f(x)=9*x**2 — both non-negative in the test range, so they coincidentally worked. Drop the abs() and the formula returns the correct signed approximation for any real-valued f.

Verified with python3 -m doctest maths/area_under_curve.py: 5/5 still pass.

Summary by Sourcery

Bug Fixes:

  • Fix trapezoidal integration so that functions with negative values or symmetric positive/negative regions produce the correct signed area instead of an always non-negative result.

…s through

The trapezoidal rule is a signed-area approximation: each linear segment
between (x1, f(x1)) and (x2, f(x2)) contributes (f(x1) + f(x2)) * (x2 - x1) / 2
to the running total. The previous code wrapped that in abs(), which forced
the running total to be non-negative. For functions that are positive in
the test range the abs() was a no-op and the existing doctests passed, but
two natural cases broke:

  - f(x) = -x**2 from -1.0 to 1.0 returns +0.6666... instead of -0.6666...
  - f(x) = x from -2.0 to 2.0 returns 4.0 instead of 0 (the symmetric
    linear function integrates to zero across the origin)

The doctests use f(x)=5 and f(x)=9*x**2 — both non-negative in the test
range, so they coincidentally worked. Drop the abs() and the formula now
returns the correct signed approximation for any real-valued f.

Verified with python3 -m doctest maths/area_under_curve.py: 5/5 pass.
@sourcery-ai

sourcery-ai Bot commented Jun 8, 2026

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Reviewer's guide (collapsed on small PRs)

Reviewer's Guide

Adjusts the trapezoidal integration implementation to compute true signed area by removing an absolute value operation from the per-segment contribution formula, preserving existing doctests.

File-Level Changes

Change Details Files
Compute signed trapezoidal area contributions instead of forcing them non-negative.
  • Remove abs() around the per-segment trapezoidal area increment so each segment can contribute positive or negative signed area
  • Keep loop structure, step calculation, and function evaluations unchanged to preserve behavior apart from sign handling
maths/area_under_curve.py

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