Does Apostol ever introduce Trig Substitutions ?

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Homework Help Overview

The discussion revolves around the topic of integration techniques as presented in Apostol's Calculus Vol. 1, specifically focusing on the concept of "trig substitutions" in relation to integration by substitution. The original poster expresses confusion regarding the absence of this technique in the relevant sections of the book.

Discussion Character

  • Conceptual clarification, Problem interpretation

Approaches and Questions Raised

  • The original poster questions whether Apostol introduces trig substitutions, noting their prior experience with the technique in other calculus classes. They inquire about alternative methods for solving a specific integral without using trig substitutions.

Discussion Status

Participants are exploring the content of Apostol's book, with some suggesting that trig substitutions typically follow u-substitution. There is acknowledgment of the structure of the book and the timing of when certain concepts are introduced, but no consensus on the inclusion of trig substitutions has been reached.

Contextual Notes

There is mention of the original poster's concern regarding the timing of the introduction of inverse trig functions and their relevance to the problem at hand. Additionally, the discussion reflects on the exercises in section 5.8 and the expectations for solving integrals at that stage.

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Does Apostol ever introduce "Trig Substitutions"?

I took Calculus before, but I am going over Apostol's Calculus Vol. 1 book. In section 5.7 he introduces Integration by Substitution, but never really discusses what was commonly referred to as "Trig Substitutions" in my Calc classes. For instance, #16 in section 5.8 is

[itex]\int(x^2+1)^{\frac{-3}{2}}dx[/itex]

Now I know (from my previous class) that I can solve this by letting [itex]x=tan\theta[/itex], but Apostol never introduced this notion. More importantly, to properly solve it in terms of [itex]x[/itex] I will need to use [itex]arctan[/itex], which isn't introduced until section 6. Just wondering if there's a way to solve it without using trig substitutions.
 
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process91 said:
I took Calculus before, but I am going over Apostol's Calculus Vol. 1 book. In section 5.7 he introduces Integration by Substitution, but never really discusses what was commonly referred to as "Trig Substitutions" in my Calc classes. For instance, #16 in section 5.8 is

[itex]\int(x^2+1)^{\frac{-3}{2}}dx[/itex]

Now I know (from my previous class) that I can solve this by letting [itex]x=tan\theta[/itex], but Apostol never introduced this notion. More importantly, to properly solve it in terms of [itex]x[/itex] I will need to use [itex]arctan[/itex], which isn't introduced until section 6. Just wondering if there's a way to solve it without using trig substitutions.

Trig substitutions tend to come after u-substitution. Have you looked in other chapters?
 


Yes, section 5.7 is "u-substitution", and section 5.8 contains the exercises which pertain to it. He does several examples of the typical u-substitution methods, but then comes question 16. I skimmed section 6.21, where he introduces the inverse trig functions, but there's mostly integration of the inverse trig functions, not using them as substitution.
 


Got it. He probably wants this solution at this stage:

Let [itex]u=\frac{x}{\sqrt{x^2+1}}[/itex], then [itex]du=(x^2+1)^\frac{-3}{2}dx[/itex]
[itex]\int(x^2+1)^\frac{-3}{2}dx=\int du = u + C = \frac{x}{\sqrt{x^2+1}} + C[/itex]

I suppose that's useful (to be able to recognize that setting u to that value will yield a desirable result), but I hope he does hit trig substitutions at some point.
 

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