How can the indefinite integral of e^(1/x)/(x(x+1)^2) be solved by hand?

  • Thread starter Thread starter mishima
  • Start date Start date
  • Tags Tags
    Integral
mishima
Messages
576
Reaction score
43
$$\int \frac {e^{1/x}} {x(x+1)^2} \, dx$$

I came across this indefinite integral when solving a second order differential equation using reduction of order. My CAS can solve it easy enough, but I was wondering what technique could be used to solve it by hand. I have tried some standard approaches without much luck. Thanks for any insights.
 
Physics news on Phys.org
The first step is to substitute ##u = 1/x## and after that substitution integration by parts.

Here is a site where you can enter the integral and it will give you a worked-out solution: https://www.integral-calculator.com/
 
  • Like
Likes epenguin
Thanks, I was making a mistake with integration by parts. Nifty site!
 
  • Like
Likes member 587159
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...
Back
Top