With pgfplots 1.10 and its fillbetween library we can fill the area between curves in a new convenient way:
- draw the first function and give it a name
- draw the second function and name it too
- add a fill between plot
This Code was posted by Stefan Kottwitz to TeX.SE, modifying an answer of Gonzalo Medina there.
\documentclass[border=10pt]{standalone}
\usepackage{pgfplots}
\pgfplotsset{width=7cm, compat=1.10}
\usepgfplotslibrary{fillbetween}
\pgfmathdeclarefunction{poly}{0}{\pgfmathparse{-x^3+5*(x^2)-3*x-3}}
\begin{document}
\begin{tikzpicture}
\begin{axis}[
axis y line = left,
axis x line = bottom,
xtick = {-1.2,2,4.2},
xticklabels = {$a$,$\zeta$,$b$},
ytick = {3},
yticklabels = {$f(\zeta)$},
samples = 160,
domain = -1.2:4.2,
xmin = -2, xmax = 5,
ymin = -5, ymax = 10,
]
\addplot[name path=poly, black, thick, mark=none, ] {poly};
\addplot[name path=line, gray, no markers, line width=1pt] {3};
\addplot fill between[
of = poly and line,
split, % calculate segments
every even segment/.style = {orange!70},
every odd segment/.style = {gray!60}
];
\end{axis}
\end{tikzpicture}
\end{document}