Calculating A Double Integral Using Polar Coords

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Homework Help Overview

The discussion revolves around evaluating a double integral using polar coordinates, specifically the integral of the natural logarithm function over a circular region in the x-y plane. The original poster presents their approach and calculations, which involve transforming the integral into polar form.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory, Mathematical reasoning, Assumption checking

Approaches and Questions Raised

  • The original poster attempts to convert a double integral into polar coordinates and discusses their steps in detail. Some participants question the correctness of the limits and the setup of the integral. Others suggest clarifying the use of LaTeX for better communication of mathematical expressions.

Discussion Status

Participants are actively engaging with the original poster's calculations, providing feedback on the steps taken and suggesting improvements. There is a recognition of errors in the calculations, and some participants offer guidance on using LaTeX effectively. The conversation is ongoing, with multiple interpretations and approaches being explored.

Contextual Notes

There are mentions of difficulties in displaying mathematical symbols on a tablet, which affects the clarity of the discussion. The original problem was initially misstated, leading to confusion about the limits of integration.

iismitch55
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I'm on a tablet and having trouble with the math symbols so, for clarity, ∫[a,b] xdx is the integral from a to b of x with respect to x, and f(x) |[a,b] is a function of x evaluated from a to b.

Problem:

∫[-1,1]∫[-√(1 - y2),√(1 - y2)] ln(x2 + y2 + 1)
relevant Equations:

x2 + y2 = r2

∫udv = uv - ∫vdu​

My Attempt:

Immediately I recognized that transforming this to a polar integral would make this much easier. The natural log is being integrated over a circular region radius 1 in the x-y plane, so the polar integral would be:

∫[0,2π]∫[0,1] ln(r2 + 1)rdrdθ
u = ln(r2 + 1) dv = rdr
du = (2r)/(r2 + 1) dr v = 1/2 • r2

∫[0,2π] 1/2 • r2 • ln(r2 + 1) |[0,1] -∫[0,2π]∫[0,2π] (r3)/(r2 + 1) • rdrdθ
Note, I simplified vdu.

Evaluating the first integral yields:

∫[0,2π] 1/2 • ln2 dθ
The second integral is not in an inegrable form. To get it in integrable form, I performed long division. I can't really display that on here in a neat manor, but I just did r4/(r2 + 1), which equals r2 - 1 + 1/(r2 + 1). So, the new integral is:

- ∫[0,2π]∫[0,1] [r2 - 1 + 1/(r2 + 1)] drdθ
The negative came from the earlier integration by parts step. I noticed that the third term in this integral fit the formula for tan-1. Integrating the second integral term by term and distributing the negative yields:

∫[0,2π] [-1/3 • r3 + r - tan-1(r)] |[0,1] dθ

∫[0,2π] [(-1/3 + 1 - π/4) - (0 + 0 - 0)] dθ
You can now either combine both integrals or evaluate them term by term. Once you evaluate, you get:

θ(1/2 • ln2 + 2/3 - π/4) |[0,2π]

2π(1/2 ln2 + 2/3 - π/4)
That's my final answer. The correct answer is π(ln4 - 1). These two are not equivalent.
 
Last edited:
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When on a tablet, it is usually easier to just type out the LaTeX - which is worth learning anyway.

You needed to evaluate:
iismitch55 said:
∫[-1,1]∫[-√(y2-1),√(y2-1)] ln(x2 + y2 + 1)
... which I read is:
$$\int_{-1}^1\int_{-\sqrt{y^2-1}}^{\sqrt{y^2-1}} \ln (x^2+y^2+1)\;\mathrm{d}x\mathrm{d}y$$
Is that correct?
 
Simon Bridge said:
When on a tablet, it is usually easier to just type out the LaTeX - which is worth learning anyway.

You needed to evaluate:

... which I read is:
$$\int_{-1}^1\int_{-\sqrt{y^2-1}}^{\sqrt{y^2-1}} \ln (x^2+y^2+1)\;\mathrm{d}x\mathrm{d}y$$
Is that correct?

100% correct. Sorry for the messyness. My tablet doesn't like to do the limits, and I'm not that experienced with how the code works.
 
OK then - did you sketch those limits?
note: ##x=\pm\sqrt{y^2-1}:\; y\in [-1,1]## is that a circle?
 
Simon Bridge said:
OK then - did you sketch those limits?
note: ##x=\pm\sqrt{y^2-1}:\; y\in [-1,1]## is not a circle.

My fault. I wrote the initial problem backwards. Should be x = +/- √(1 - y2). I will edit it so no one gets confused. I did draw the circle though.
 
OK so ... the polar form would be: $$\int_0^{2\pi}\int_0^1 \ln(r^2+1)r\;\mathrm{d}r\mathrm{d}\theta = 2\pi\int_0^1 \ln(r^2+1)r\;\mathrm{d}r$$ ... since there is no ##\theta## dependence in the integrand (always do the easy part first.)

You combined some crucial steps in your working so I'm having a hard time following what you did ... what did you get for the indefinite integral wrt r?

Note: the latex is not hard.
int[a,b] becomes \int_{a}^{b} for example, while the natural log symbol is \ln ... it's a bit of a pain having to shift keyboards for the backslashes and curly-brackets but you learn to anticipate and type a row of them while the correct keyboard is active.
 
Okay, I will give latex a shot. Are you looking for the final indefinite integral with respect to r?

That would be:

\frac{1}{2} ln2 + \frac{2}{3} - \frac{π}{4}
If you would like, I can try retyping it with latex, although I cannot seem to get it to work properly
 
Simon Bridge said:
OK so ... the polar form would be: $$\int_0^{2\pi}\int_0^1 \ln(r^2+1)r\;\mathrm{d}r\mathrm{d}\theta = 2\pi\int_0^1 \ln(r^2+1)r\;\mathrm{d}r$$ ... since there is no ##\theta## dependence in the integrand (always do the easy part first.)

You combined some crucial steps in your working so I'm having a hard time following what you did ... what did you get for the indefinite integral wrt r?

Note: the latex is not hard.
int[a,b] becomes \int_{a}^{b} for example, while the natural log symbol is \ln ... it's a bit of a pain having to shift keyboards for the backslashes and curly-brackets but you learn to anticipate and type a row of them while the correct keyboard is active.

I'm going to also add in a picture of mywork. It may help since we are having trouble with latex.

IMG_0436-1.JPG
 
Excuse me, I had to step out for a bit.
... we are having trouble with latex...
[vis] \frac{1}{2} ln2 + \frac{2}{3} - \frac{π}{4}
... that's good - but you have to tell PF to render that as maths instead of code.
To do that, you put double-dollar signs on either side of it. Then it comes out as: $$\frac{1}{2} ln2 + \frac{2}{3} - \frac{π}{4}$$... see: not a problem :) The "ln" should be "\ln" and the pi symbol is \pi (all Greek letters not already in the Latin charset, are a backslash followed by the letter name i.e. \pi is ##\pi## and \Pi is ##\Pi## ... neat huh?).

However, that is the result of the definite integral.
The indefinite integral would be the result of: $$\int r\ln(r^2+1)\;\mathrm{d}r$$
 
  • #10
Simon Bridge said:
Excuse me, I had to step out for a bit.

... that's good - but you have to tell PF to render that as maths instead of code.
To do that, you put double-dollar signs on either side of it. Then it comes out as: $$\frac{1}{2} ln2 + \frac{2}{3} - \frac{π}{4}$$... see: not a problem :) The "ln" should be "\ln" and the pi symbol is \pi (all Greek letters not already in the Latin charset, are a backslash followed by the letter name i.e. \pi is ##\pi## and \Pi is ##\Pi## ... neat huh?).

However, that is the result of the definite integral.
The indefinite integral would be the result of: $$\int r\ln(r^2+1)\;\mathrm{d}r$$

Sorry, fell asleep last night.

So, the result of the indefinite integral using integration by parts:

$$\int r\ln(r^2 + 1)dr$$
$$u = \ln(r^2 + 1); dv = rdr$$
$$du = \frac{2r}{r^2 + 1} dr; v = \frac{1}{2} r^2$$
$$\frac{1}{2} r^2 \ln(r^2 + 1) - \int \frac{2r • r^2}{2(r^2 + 1)} rdr$$
$$\frac{1}{2} r^2 \ln(r^2 + 1) - \int \frac{r^4}{(r^2 + 1)} dr$$​
Using long division on the remaining integral (still not sure how to display that step):

$$\frac{1}{2} r^2 \ln(r^2 + 1) - \int [r^2 - 1 + \frac{1}{r^2 + 1}] dr$$​
Term by term integration, where the third term is tan-1:

$$\frac{1}{2} r^2 \ln(r^2 + 1) - \frac{1}{3} r^3 + r - arctan(r)$$​
 
  • #11
OK - there's something wrong in that set of calculations... that 1/3 shouldn't appear ferinstance and there is no need for the trig function since ##r\neq \tan\theta##.
I think your substitution is off but I'm not about to pour through it.

Why didn't you just set u=r^2+1 so you need only evaluate:
$$\int \ln(r^2+1)r\;\mathrm{d}r= \frac{1}{2}\int \ln u \; \mathrm{d}u$$ ... then just look u the integral of ln(u).

LaTeX notes:
trig functions are their name after a backslash - in general that is how latex tries to do things. so \arctan x gets you ##\arctan x##.
Sowing long division involves alignments - though you can show the stages in one line each.
 
  • #12
I didn't remember the antiderivative of lnu du off hand. I reworked the problem today. The mistake I made was in this step:

$$\frac{1}{2} \ln(r^2 + 1) - \int \frac{2r • r^2}{2(r^2 + 1)} r dr$$

I stuck an extra r in next to dr. I assumed that if I integrated again in polar (drdθ) then I needed r. If you don't stick that r in, the problem works out the same as of you did a u sub.

Thank you for your help, and Latex advice!
 
  • #13
No worries - usually if you know where to look you can find.

Note: I don't memorize integrals either - I just look them up.
$$\int \ln(x)\;\mathrm{d}x = x\big(\ln(x)-1\big) + c$$

For more on the LaTeX typesetting system:
https://www.ctan.org/tex-archive/info/lshort/english/?lang=en
... you only need the math section though.
There is also online documentation and for specific effects you can google for the effect name with "latex".
 
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