A term used to describe the area represented by a definite integral. If an integrand f(x) changes signs in an interval a≤x≤b, then the definite integral ${\int }_a^{b}f\left(x\right)\text{d}x$ equals the area above the x-axis and below the graph, minus the area below the x-axis and above the graph. Instead, the total area between the graph and the x-axis equals ${\int }_a^b\left|f\left(x\right)\right|\text{d}x$.