when finding area, what does it mean when it says that the function is below by the x-axis, can you give me example of this
Your question has to be missing a word or two.
When finding area, one has to be certain if you want absolute area between the function and the x axis, or net area.
If f(x) is positive, INT f(x)dx will be positive.
If f(x) is negative, INT f(x)dx will be negative.