To get the area between two curves, we slice the region between them into vertical strips, each of width Δx. Denote by H(x) the height at a point x. Since the area of each strip is roughly H(x)⋅Δx, the total area is n∑i=1H(xi)Δx.
Taking a limit, the area becomes ∫baH(x)dx.
Notice that sometimes we are given the beginning and ending values of x explicitly, whereas others we have to figure out where two curves meet.