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Mathematical Expression Editor
1 Trigonometric identities
The following are the Pythagorean Trigonometric Identities (named for Pythagoras of
Samos) which hold for all angles, , in the domains of the functions involved: and
2 Integrands involving
example 1 Compute the indefinite integral The key to the solution is to replace the
variable, , with a trigonometric function in order to eliminate the square root. Since
and the radicand, , have the same algebraic form, we will try the substitution . To
apply this to the integral, we also need to compute the differential, . Substituting
gives, The point of this substitution is that the square root can be computed by
using a Pythagorean trigonometric identity. From there, we can compute the integral
using the skills developed in the section on trigonometric integrals. We have \begin{align*} \int x^3 \sqrt{1-x^2} \; dx &= \int \cos ^3(\theta ) \sqrt{1-\cos ^2(\theta )} \left [-\sin (\theta )\right ] \; d\theta \\[6pt] &= -\int \cos ^3(\theta ) \sqrt{\sin ^2(\theta )} \sin (\theta ) \; d\theta \\[6pt] &= -\int \cos ^3(\theta ) \sin (\theta ) \sin (\theta ) \; d\theta \\[6pt] &= -\int \cos ^3(\theta ) \sin ^2(\theta ) \; d\theta \; \;\;\text{(odd power of cosine)}\\[6pt] &= -\int \cos ^2(\theta ) \sin ^2(\theta ) \cos (\theta ) \; d\theta \\[6pt] &= -\int \left [1 - \sin ^2(\theta )\right ] \sin ^2(\theta ) \cos (\theta ) \; d\theta \\[6pt] & \; \text{let $u = \sin (\theta ), \; du = \cos (\theta ) \, d\theta $}\\[6pt] &=-\int (1-u^2)u^2 \; du\\[6pt] &=\int (u^2 -1)u^2 \; du\\[6pt] &=\int (u^4 - u^2) \; du\\[6pt] &=\frac{u^5}{5} - \frac{u^3}{3} + C\\[6pt] &= \frac 15 \sin ^5(\theta ) - \frac 13 \sin ^3(\theta ) + C. \end{align*}
At this point we have an answer in terms of the variable , but we require the variable
. We will use the triangle below to convert back to .
From the triangle, we see that , and we substitute to get the final answer:
Technically, . However, in the substitution , we can choose the angle, , to be in the
interval . This way, , and .
(problem 1a)
Compute the indefinite integral Use a trigonometric substitution with Substituting these and simplifying the integrand gives
Computing this integral gives Based on the substitution , The final answer is
(problem 1b)
Compute the indefinite integral Use a trigonometric substitution with The differential is Substituting these and simplifying the integrand gives Computing this integral gives Based on the substitution , The final answer is
Compute the indefinite integral Use a trigonometric substitution with The differential is Substituting these and simplifying the integrand gives Computing this integral gives Based on the substitution , The final answer is
example 3 Compute the indefinite integral We choose the substitution so that . The
integral becomes \begin{align*} \int \frac{1}{x\sqrt{9-4x^2}}\; dx &= \int \frac{1}{\frac 32\cos (\theta )\sqrt{9-9\cos ^2(\theta )}} \left [-\frac 32\sin (\theta )\right ]\; d\theta \\[6pt] &= -\int \frac{\sin (\theta )}{\cos (\theta )\sqrt{9\sin ^2(\theta )}} \; d\theta \\[6pt] &= -\int \frac{\sin (\theta )}{\cos (\theta )\cdot 3\sin (\theta )} \; d\theta \\[6pt] &= -\frac 13\int \frac{1}{\cos (\theta )} \; d\theta \\[6pt] &= -\frac 13\int \sec (\theta ) \; d\theta \\[6pt] &= -\frac 13 \ln |\sec (\theta ) + \tan (\theta )| + C. \end{align*}
From the triangle above, we can see that and so that:
(problem 3a)
Compute the indefinite integral Use a trigonometric substitution with The differential is Substituting these and simplifying the integrand gives Computing this integral gives Based on the substitution , The final answer is
(problem 3b)
Compute the indefinite integral Use a trigonometric substitution with The differential is Substituting these and simplifying the integrand gives Computing this integral gives Based on the substitution , The final answer is
3 Integrands involving
example 4 Compute the indefinite integral We will use the substitution , so that
.
From the triangle above, we see that . Back-substituting gives
Technically, . However, in our substitution, , we can specify that the angle be in the
interval . This way, and .
(problem 9) Compute the indefinite integral Use a trigonometric substitution
with The differential is Substituting these and simplifying the integrand gives Computing this integral gives Based on the substitution , The final answer is
(problem 10) Compute the indefinite integral Use a trigonometric substitution
with The differential is Substituting these and simplifying the integrand gives Computing this integral gives Based on the substitution , The final answer is
example 11 Compute the indefinite integral Let . Then . Substituting these, the
integral becomes, \begin{align*} \int \sqrt{16 + 9x^2} \; dx &= \int \sqrt{16+16\tan ^2(\theta )} \cdot \frac 43\sec ^2(\theta ) \; d\theta \\[6pt] &= \frac 43\int \sqrt{16\sec ^2(\theta )} \cdot \sec ^2(\theta ) \; d\theta \\[6pt] &= \frac 43\int 4\sec (\theta ) \cdot \sec ^2(\theta ) \; d\theta \\[6pt] &= \frac{16}{3}\int \sec ^3(\theta ) \; d\theta \\[6pt] &\;\;\;\;\;\text{(see the IBP section for this integral).}\\[6pt] &= \frac{8}{3}\sec (\theta ) \tan (\theta ) + \frac{8}{3} \ln |\sec (\theta ) + \tan (\theta )| + C \end{align*}
From the triangle above, we can see that . Back substitution gives \begin{align*} \int \sqrt{16 + 9x^2} \; dx &= \frac{8}{3} \sec (x) \tan (x) + \frac{8}{3} \ln |\sec (x) + \tan (x)| + C\\ &= \frac{8}{3} \cdot \frac{\sqrt{16+9x^2}}{4 } \cdot \frac{3x}{4} + \frac{8}{3} \ln \bigg |\frac{\sqrt{16+9x^2}}{4 } + \frac{3x}{4}\bigg | + C\\ &= \frac 12 x\sqrt{16+9x^2} + \frac 83 \ln \left (3x + \sqrt{16+9x^2}\right ) + C\\ \end{align*}
Note that the absolute value bars were removed because for any . Also note that the
was removed from inside the log because and can be combined with the constant of
integration.
(problem 11) Compute the indefinite integral Use a trigonometric substitution
with The differential is Substituting these and simplifying the integrand gives Computing this integral gives Based on the substitution , The final answer is
Here is a detailed, lecture style video on trigonometric substitution:
_
Use a trigonometric substitution to convert the integral into a trigonometric integral:
We will make the substitution The resulting trig integral is