TITLE: Converting a Riemann sum to an integral
QUESTION [5 upvotes]: Given this sum:
$$ \frac{1}{n} + \frac{1}{n+1} + \frac{1}{n+2} + \cdots + \frac{1}{2n-1}$$
I am trying to convert (approximate) it to an integral. This is what I have so far:
$$ 
\frac{1}{n} + \frac{1}{n+1} + \frac{1}{n+2} + \cdots + \frac{1}{2n-1} = 
\frac{1}{n} \left( 1 + \frac{n}{n+1} + \cdots + \frac{n}{2n-1} \right) = 
\sum_{i=1}^{n-1}{\frac{1}{n}\frac{n}{n+i}}$$ 
How do I continue from here? Also, how do I set the limits of the integral once I find it? 
What do I want my sum to look like before I can integrate over it? Are there any conditions?
Thanks

REPLY [3 votes]: Hint: You are close,  a little more manipulation will do it. In the expression $\frac{n}{n+i}$, divide "top" and "bottom" by $n$. We get 
$$\frac{1}{1+\frac{i}{n}},$$
which is the value of $f$ at $\frac{i}{n}$, with $f(x)=\frac{1}{1+x}$.  
We can reach the same conclusion  in one step, by noting that 
$$\frac{1}{n+i}=\frac{1}{n}\frac{1}{1+\frac{i}{n}}.$$
In any case, our sum is equal to
$$\sum_{i=0}^{n-1}\frac{1}{n}f(i/n), \qquad\qquad(\ast)$$
which is a familiar type of Riemann sum. 
The simplest kind of Riemann sum has shape
$$\sum \frac{L}{n}f(iL/n),$$ 
where we sum from $i=0$ to $n-1$ (equal-width intervals, evaluation at left endpoints) or from $i=1$ to $n$ (evaluation at right endpoints). This was the motivation for trying to express our terms as $\frac{1}{n}f(i/n)$. If the function $f$ is well-behaved, the limit as $n \to\infty$ of these Riemann sums is
$$\int_0^L f(x)\,dx.$$
For another way to identify the interval of integration, note that we are evaluating $f$ at the numbers $\frac{0}{n}$, $\frac{1}{n}$, $\frac{2}{n}$, and so on up to $\frac{n-1}{n}$.  What interval are these (equally spaced) division points of?