Friday, September 1, 2017

Single Variable Calculus, Chapter 7, 7.6, Section 7.6, Problem 66

Evaluate the integral $\displaystyle \int \frac{1}{x \sqrt{x^2-4}} dx$
If we let $\displaystyle u = \frac{2}{x}$, then $\displaystyle x = \frac{2}{u}$ so...
$\displaystyle dx = \frac{-2}{u^2} du$

Thus,

$
\begin{equation}
\begin{aligned}
\int \frac{dx}{x \sqrt{x^2-4}} &= \int \frac{-2 du}{u^2 \left(\frac{2}{u}\right)\sqrt{\left(\frac{2}{u}\right)^2-4}}\\
\\
&= \int \frac{-2 du}{2u \sqrt{\frac{4}{u^2}-4}}\\
\\
&= \int \frac{-2 du}{2u \sqrt{\frac{4-4u^2}{u^2}}}\\
\\
&= \int \frac{-2 du}{2 \sqrt{4-4u^2}}\\
\\
&= -\int \frac{du}{\sqrt{4-4u^2}} = -\int \frac{du}{\sqrt{4(1-u^2)}} = -\int \frac{du}{2\sqrt{1-u^2}}\\
\\
\text{recall that } \frac{d}{dx} \sin^{-1} (x) &= \frac{1}{\sqrt{1-x^2}}\\
\\
&= -\frac{1}{2} \left[ \sin^{-1} u \right] + c \\
\\
&= -\frac{1}{2} \sin^{-1} \left( \frac{2}{x} \right) + c
\end{aligned}
\end{equation}
$

No comments:

Post a Comment

Why is the fact that the Americans are helping the Russians important?

In the late author Tom Clancy’s first novel, The Hunt for Red October, the assistance rendered to the Russians by the United States is impor...