Help with integration (1) involving integration by parts etc

NCyellow
Messages
22
Reaction score
0

Homework Statement


Solve for indefinite integral of
(7x^3)/sqr(4+x^2)(dx)

Homework Equations


I just can't seem to find the right solution.


The Attempt at a Solution


First of all, we can just factor the 7 out of the integral for now since it is only a constant.
the inverse square root of (4+x^2) looks like arctan(x/2).
So I set 1/(4+x^2) up as dv, and so V would equal arctan(x/2). U is then x^3, and du is 3x^2.
However, the integrals just don't seem to simplify. Please help.
 
Physics news on Phys.org
how about looking at trig substitution - in particular what trig identity could simplfy the denominator
 
Substitution again. Try u=x^2+4. You have a left over x^2 in the numerator. But x^2=u-4. Try the easy stuff before you resort to the hard stuff.
 
I did it, and ended up with the integral of (u^2-4u) over square root of u, all multiplied by the constant 7/2. After a lengthy algebra session, I ended up with a huge answer, that wasn't correct... What did I do wrong?
 
I ended up with basically (u-4)*du/sqrt(u) forgetting the constants. What did you do? I think you have an extra u in the numerator which doesn't belong there.
 
Ah, there we go. I forgot to take out an x for du. Thanks.
 
There are two things I don't understand about this problem. First, when finding the nth root of a number, there should in theory be n solutions. However, the formula produces n+1 roots. Here is how. The first root is simply ##\left(r\right)^{\left(\frac{1}{n}\right)}##. Then you multiply this first root by n additional expressions given by the formula, as you go through k=0,1,...n-1. So you end up with n+1 roots, which cannot be correct. Let me illustrate what I mean. For this...

Similar threads

Back
Top