What is the Riemann intergral of $\sqrt{4-x^2}$ from $0$ to $3$?
I tried to write down the Riemann sum $\sum_{i=1}^n\sqrt{4-\frac{(3i)^2}{n^2}}\frac{3}{n}$. Then I tried to take limit as $n \to \infty$, but I don't know how to evaluate it. I don't know what to do with the square root.






It suffices to take the right Riemann sum. With the upper limit as $2$ instead of $3$, the sum can be written as: $$ \frac{4}{n} \sum_{i=1}^{n} \sqrt{1-(i/n)^2} $$We can use the binomial theorem to write this as: $$ \frac{4}{n} \sum_{i=1}^{n} \left(\sum_{k=0}^{\infty} \binom{1/2}{k}(-(i/n)^2)^k\right) $$Switch the order of summation: $$ =\frac{4}{n}\sum_{k=0}^{\infty} \binom{1/2}{k}\left( \sum_{i=1}^{n} (-(i/n)^2)^k\right) $$ $$ =\frac{4}{n}\sum_{k=0}^{\infty} \binom{1/2}{k}\frac{(-1)^k}{n^{2k}}\left( \sum_{i=1}^{n} i^{2k}\right) $$ $$ =\frac{4}{n^{2k+1}}\sum_{k=0}^{\infty} \binom{1/2}{k}{(-1)^k}\left( \sum_{i=1}^{n} i^{2k}\right) $$The inner sum is a polynomial in $n$ of degree $2k+1$. Fortunately, in the limit in $n$ we only care about the leading term of the inner sum: the rest will get outweighed by the $n^{2k+1}$ in the denominator. It can be shown this will look like $n^{2n+1}/(2k+1)$. Then we have $$ \lim_{n\to \infty} \frac{4}{n^{2k+1}}\sum_{k=0}^{\infty} \binom{1/2}{k}{(-1)^k}\left( \sum_{i=1}^{n} i^{2k}\right) $$ $$ \lim_{n\to \infty} \frac{4}{n^{2k+1}}\sum_{k=0}^{\infty} \binom{1/2}{k}{(-1)^k}\left( \frac{n^{2k+1}+\text{lower order terms}}{2k+1}\right) $$ $$ =4 \sum_{k=0}^{\infty}\binom{1/2}{k}\frac{(-1)^k}{2k+1} $$This is not so bad as it looks. Using the identity $\displaystyle{\binom{1/2}{k} = \binom{2k}{k} \frac{(-1)^{k+1}}{4^k(2k-1)}}$, we have $$ =- 4 \sum_{k=0}^{\infty}\binom{2k}{k}\frac{1}{2^{2k}(2k+1)(2k-1)} $$The Maclaurin series for $\arcsin(z)$ is $$ \arcsin(z) = \sum_{k=0}^{\infty}\binom{2k}{k} \frac{1}{2^{2k}(2k+1)} z^{2k+1} $$The Maclaurin series for $\sqrt{1-z}$ is $$ \sqrt{1-z}=\sum _{k=0}^{\infty }\binom{2 k}{k} \frac{ -1}{2^{2 k} (2 k-1)}z^k $$Combining these, we have $$ =\sum_{k=0}^{\infty}\binom{2k}{k}\frac{-2}{2^{2k}(2k+1)(2k-1)}z^k=\sqrt{(1-z)}+\frac{\arcsin\left(\sqrt{z}\right)}{\sqrt{z}} $$ $$-4\sum_{k=0}^{\infty}\binom{2k}{k}\frac{1}{2^{2k}(2k+1)(2k-1)}z^k= 2\sqrt{(1-z)}+\frac{2\arcsin\left(\sqrt{z}\right)}{\sqrt{z}} $$Plugging in $z=1$ gives $\pi$, which is the value of the corresponding integral.
Of course, a geometric approach is cleaner than all this. A Riemann sum (roughly speaking) represents area. Then your question can be phrased as, 'what is the area under $\sqrt{4-x^2}$ for $x$ from $0$ to $2$?' If you draw a picture, immediately you'll see: it's a quarter-circle with radius $2$. Then the answer is $1/4\cdot 2^2\pi =\pi$.