How Do You Integrate tan(x)sec^2(x)?

Click For Summary

Homework Help Overview

The discussion revolves around the integration of the function tan(x)sec^2(x), a topic within calculus focusing on integration techniques. Participants express varying levels of confusion and attempts to approach the problem.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory, Mathematical reasoning, Assumption checking

Approaches and Questions Raised

  • Participants discuss using u-substitution, with suggestions to let u equal either tan(x) or sec^2(x). There are questions about the correct differentiation and integration processes involved.

Discussion Status

Some participants have offered guidance on potential substitutions and have pointed out misunderstandings regarding differentiation. There is an ongoing exploration of different approaches, but no consensus has been reached on a specific method.

Contextual Notes

Participants are encouraged to show their work, but some express difficulty in doing so, indicating a lack of clarity on the problem setup and integration techniques. There are references to homework rules regarding showing work and understanding derivatives of trigonometric functions.

scorpa
Messages
367
Reaction score
1
Hello everyone,

I am having some trouble finding the integral of tanxsec^2x. I honestly have no idea where to go with this one. I've finished all the others but this one is really screwing me up. I tried doing something with the chain rule but it didn't work out at all. I know that I am supposed to show my work, but at this point I don't have anything to show you guys. Thanks a lot for any help you can give me.
 
Physics news on Phys.org
scorpa said:
Hello everyone,

I am having some trouble finding the integral of tanxsec^2x. I honestly have no idea where to go with this one. I've finished all the others but this one is really screwing me up. I tried doing something with the chain rule but it didn't work out at all. I know that I am supposed to show my work, but at this point I don't have anything to show you guys. Thanks a lot for any help you can give me.

Write everything in terms of sines and cosines. Then you can do a simple substitution.
 
Or just note that the derivative of tangent is the secant squared... u-substitution, anybody?

--J
 
Ok guys, thanks for the help, but I'm still completely lost. I still don't have a clue of what I should do.
 
Are you familiar with u-substitution? You're going to have to make one to evaluate the integral. You have two choices for what to let u equal, both work. What do you think u might equal?

--J
 
I am sort of familiar with it. Could you let u equal tanx?
 
scorpa said:
I am sort of familiar with it. Could you let u equal tanx?

If you did, what would du be?
 
Ok, actually I might let u = sec^2x, then du should equal tanx+c?
 
scorpa said:
Ok, actually I might let u = sec^2x, then du should equal tanx+c?

That is not correct

You should review the derivatives of all the trig functions.
 
  • #10
You're integrating u to get du for some reason. You must differentiate u to get du.

Stick with your original substitution.

--J
 
  • #11
\int \sec^{2} x \tan x \ dx=-\int \frac{d {}\cos x}{\cos^{3} x}=\frac{1}{2}\sec^{2}x +\mathcal{C}

Daniel.
 
  • #12
shouldnt it be:
\int sec^2x~tanx~dx=\int\frac{sinx}{cos^3x}dx
then, you could do u-sub and set u=cosx and go from there?

*Edit*
dextercioby, you put sinx instead of cosx. i think tanx = sinx/cosx
*Edit*
 
Last edited:
  • #13
p53ud0 dr34m5 said:
shouldnt it be:
\int sec^2x~tanx~dx=\int\frac{sinx}{cos^3x}dx
then, you could do u-sub and set u=cosx and go from there?

and du would be

du = d cosx = -sinx dx

giving

sinx dx = -d cosx

which is what Dexter did to get his result, and what earlier hints were pointing to. It could also be done using

u= tanx

du= d tanx = sec^2x dx

sec^2x dx = d tanx

as suggested by Justin early on
 
  • #14
Oh ok...I think I am starting to get it
 

Similar threads

Replies
8
Views
2K
Replies
7
Views
3K
  • · Replies 3 ·
Replies
3
Views
4K
  • · Replies 4 ·
Replies
4
Views
2K
  • · Replies 3 ·
Replies
3
Views
3K
  • · Replies 2 ·
Replies
2
Views
2K
  • · Replies 10 ·
Replies
10
Views
2K
  • · Replies 10 ·
Replies
10
Views
1K
  • · Replies 2 ·
Replies
2
Views
1K
  • · Replies 7 ·
Replies
7
Views
2K