Integral Convergence and Divergence I

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Discussion Overview

The discussion focuses on the convergence and divergence of integrals, specifically addressing various integral problems from a homework set. Participants express doubts about their solutions and seek clarification on specific steps and substitutions used in their calculations.

Discussion Character

  • Homework-related
  • Mathematical reasoning
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • One participant describes their approach to problem 4a using the substitution \( x = 3\sin(\theta) \) and expresses uncertainty about their resulting expression.
  • Another participant suggests that the substitution for problem 4a is correct and provides a detailed breakdown of the integral, including further substitutions and transformations.
  • Multiple participants share their solutions for other problems, such as 5a, 5b, 6a, 6b, and 6c, while expressing doubts about the correctness of their answers.
  • One participant notes a potential misunderstanding regarding the notation of the Greek letter "theta," humorously correcting the use of "feta" instead.
  • There is a request for participants to limit the number of questions per thread to enhance clarity and organization.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants generally agree on the need for clarification and assistance with their solutions, but there is no consensus on the correctness of the various answers provided. Multiple competing views and uncertainties remain regarding the solutions to the integral problems.

Contextual Notes

Some participants express confusion over the use of LaTeX formatting in their posts, which may affect the clarity of their mathematical expressions. Additionally, there are unresolved doubts about the correctness of specific integral evaluations and substitutions.

ardentmed
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Hello,

I'm doubting a couple of my answers for these questions. Some of them seem relatively simple, but there are slight nuances that I'm not sure of.

This thread is only for question 4.

1391f1257f53a17199f9_4.jpg
For 4a, I just used the (a^2) - (x^2) => x=asin(Ø) rule and substituted 3sin(Ø) for x. I ended up getting 9sin(Ø) - 6sin^3(Ø) + (9/5)sin^5(Ø) + C.
Likewise, for 4b, I used x=tan(Ø) and got (-1/4)cot(Ø) - (Ø) + C. I'm really not sure about this one. By the way, I promise I'll get a hang of this latex coding soon. I'm having trouble with it because using the $ sign seems to mess up the rest of the post (everything after it turns into latex).
 
Last edited:
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Hi there! Welcome to MHB. :)

As you've heard, we prefer to have 1 question per thread but since there are so many here I'm not going to split them up into 6 separate threads. So here's what I suggest - pick 2-3 of these problems to start with. Which one do you want to be in this thread? I'll edit your post to focus on the one you choose. Then you can make 2 other threads for the other 2 problems. Once those are completed you can move on to the other ones.

We are very happy to help and glad you are here, just want to go about this in an efficient way.
 
ardentmed said:
Hello,

I'm doubting a couple of my answers for these questions. Some of them seem relatively simple, but there are slight nuances that I'm not sure of.

1391f1257f53a17199f9_4.jpg


1391f1257f53a17199f9_5.jpg


For 4a, I just used the (a^2) - (x^2) => x=asin(feta) rule and substituted 3sin(feta) for x. I ended up getting 9sin(feta) - 6sin^3(feta) + (9/5)sin^5(feta) + C.
Likewise, for 4b, I used x=tan(feta) and got (-1/4)cot(feta) - (feta) + C. I'm really not sure about this one.

As for number 5 part a, after tediously expanding the partial fraction expression, I ended up getting c=1, d=0, b=1, and c=1, ultimately resulting in: ln(x) - (1/x^2) + c. I really don't think this looks right.

As for 5b, I obtained b=-1, c=-1, a=2, and 2lnx - (1/2)ln(x^2 +3) - (1/3)arctan(x/√3)

6a and 6b seemed relatively simple, with 6c seeming to be the most troublesome. I got 1/4 arcsin (x^2 / 2 ) + c for 6a after substituting u for x^2.
As for 6b, I got (x^2)/2 -2ln(x^2 +4) + c after using algebraic division and taking u=x^2 + 4.

Finally, for 6c, I took u as √(x), followed by algebraic division since the nominator should always be smaller than the denominator in order for partial fractions to be usable. This gave me 2√(x) + 2ln(√x -2 ) - 2ln(√x + 2) + c.

Finally, for 8, I got divergent (to -infinity), convergent (to π/6), and divergent (to infinity, since the first part's sum is 1/3, but lim negative infinity gives infinity, thus the summation of the two integrals gives a divergent integral). I'm sure these are right, but I'd appreciate some help, especially for 8c.I really appreciate the help guys. Thanks in advance.

By the way, I promise I'll get a hang of this latex coding soon. I'm having trouble with it because using the $ sign seems to mess up the rest of the post (everything after it turns into latex).

First of all, "feta" is a type of cheese. This guy: $\displaystyle \begin{align*} \theta \end{align*}$ is the greek letter "theta".

Second, please edit your post so that no more than two questions are in each thread, as Mark instructed in your previous thread.
 
Prove It said:
First of all, "feta" is a type of cheese. This guy: $\displaystyle \begin{align*} \theta \end{align*}$ is the greek letter "theta".

Second, please edit your post so that no more than two questions are in each thread, as Mark instructed in your previous thread.

Gotcha. Edited accordingly. Sorry about that.
 
ardentmed said:
Hello,

I'm doubting a couple of my answers for these questions. Some of them seem relatively simple, but there are slight nuances that I'm not sure of.

This thread is only for question 4.

1391f1257f53a17199f9_4.jpg
For 4a, I just used the (a^2) - (x^2) => x=asin(Ø) rule and substituted 3sin(Ø) for x. I ended up getting 9sin(Ø) - 6sin^3(Ø) + (9/5)sin^5(Ø) + C.
Likewise, for 4b, I used x=tan(Ø) and got (-1/4)cot(Ø) - (Ø) + C. I'm really not sure about this one. By the way, I promise I'll get a hang of this latex coding soon. I'm having trouble with it because using the $ sign seems to mess up the rest of the post (everything after it turns into latex).

Your substitution for 4. a) is good. So when you substitute $\displaystyle \begin{align*} x = 3\sin{ \left( \theta \right) } \implies \mathrm{d}x = 3\cos{ \left( \theta \right) } \,\mathrm{d}\theta \end{align*}$ you get

$\displaystyle \begin{align*} \int{ x^3\,\sqrt{ 9 - x^2 } \, \mathrm{d}x } &= \int{ \left[ 3\sin{ \left( \theta \right) } \right] ^3 \, \sqrt{ 9 - \left[ 3\sin{ \left( \theta \right) } \right] } \, 3\cos{ \left( \theta \right) } \, \mathrm{d}\theta } \\ &= \int{ 27\sin^3{ \left( \theta \right) } \, 3\cos{ \left( \theta \right) } \, 3\cos{ \left( \theta \right) } \, \mathrm{d}\theta } \\ &= 243 \int{ \sin^3{ \left( \theta \right) } \cos^2{ \left( \theta \right) } \, \mathrm{d}\theta} \\ &= 243 \int{ \sin{ \left( \theta \right) } \left[ 1 - \cos^2{ \left( \theta \right) } \right] \cos^2{ \left( \theta \right) } \, \mathrm{d}\theta} \\ &= -243 \int{ -\sin{ \left( \theta \right) } \left[ \cos^2{ \left( \theta \right) } - \cos^4{ \left( \theta \right) } \right] \, \mathrm{d}\theta} \end{align*}$

Now make the substitution $\displaystyle \begin{align*} u = \cos{ \left( \theta \right) } \implies \mathrm{d}u = -\sin{ \left( \theta \right) } \,\mathrm{d}\theta \end{align*}$ and the integral becomes

$\displaystyle \begin{align*} -243\int{ -\sin{ \left( \theta \right) } \left[ \cos^2{ \left( \theta \right) } - \cos^4{ \left( \theta \right) } \right] \, \mathrm{d}\theta} &= -243 \int{ u^2 - u^4\, \mathrm{d}u } \\ &= -243 \left( \frac{u^3}{3} - \frac{u^5}{5} \right) + C \\ &= -243 \left[ \frac{ \cos^3{ \left( \theta \right) } }{3} - \frac{\cos^5{ \left( \theta \right) }}{5} \right] + C \\ &= -243 \cos{ \left( \theta \right) } \left\{ \frac{\cos^2{ \left( \theta \right) }}{3} - \frac{\left[ \cos^2{ \left( \theta \right) } \right] ^2 }{5} \right\} + C \\ &= -243 \, \sqrt{ 1 - \sin^2{ \left( \theta \right) } } \left\{ \frac{1 - \sin^2{\left( \theta \right) } }{3} - \frac{\left[ 1 - \sin^2{ \left( \theta \right) } \right] ^2 }{5} \right\} + C \\ &= -243 \, \sqrt{ 1 - \left( \frac{x}{3} \right) ^2 } \left\{ \frac{1 - \left( \frac{x}{3} \right) ^2 }{3} - \frac{\left[ 1 - \left( \frac{x}{3} \right) ^2 \right] ^2 }{5} \right\} \end{align*}$

which you can now try to simplify if you want...
 
Prove It said:
Your substitution for 4. a) is good. So when you substitute $\displaystyle \begin{align*} x = 3\sin{ \left( \theta \right) } \implies \mathrm{d}x = 3\cos{ \left( \theta \right) } \,\mathrm{d}\theta \end{align*}$ you get

$\displaystyle \begin{align*} \int{ x^3\,\sqrt{ 9 - x^2 } \, \mathrm{d}x } &= \int{ \left[ 3\sin{ \left( \theta \right) } \right] ^3 \, \sqrt{ 9 - \left[ 3\sin{ \left( \theta \right) } \right] } \, 3\cos{ \left( \theta \right) } \, \mathrm{d}\theta } \\ &= \int{ 27\sin^3{ \left( \theta \right) } \, 3\cos{ \left( \theta \right) } \, 3\cos{ \left( \theta \right) } \, \mathrm{d}\theta } \\ &= 243 \int{ \sin^3{ \left( \theta \right) } \cos^2{ \left( \theta \right) } \, \mathrm{d}\theta} \\ &= 243 \int{ \sin{ \left( \theta \right) } \left[ 1 - \cos^2{ \left( \theta \right) } \right] \cos^2{ \left( \theta \right) } \, \mathrm{d}\theta} \\ &= -243 \int{ -\sin{ \left( \theta \right) } \left[ \cos^2{ \left( \theta \right) } - \cos^4{ \left( \theta \right) } \right] \, \mathrm{d}\theta} \end{align*}$

Now make the substitution $\displaystyle \begin{align*} u = \cos{ \left( \theta \right) } \implies \mathrm{d}u = -\sin{ \left( \theta \right) } \,\mathrm{d}\theta \end{align*}$ and the integral becomes

$\displaystyle \begin{align*} -243\int{ -\sin{ \left( \theta \right) } \left[ \cos^2{ \left( \theta \right) } - \cos^4{ \left( \theta \right) } \right] \, \mathrm{d}\theta} &= -243 \int{ u^2 - u^4\, \mathrm{d}u } \\ &= -243 \left( \frac{u^3}{3} - \frac{u^5}{5} \right) + C \\ &= -243 \left[ \frac{ \cos^3{ \left( \theta \right) } }{3} - \frac{\cos^5{ \left( \theta \right) }}{5} \right] + C \\ &= -243 \cos{ \left( \theta \right) } \left\{ \frac{\cos^2{ \left( \theta \right) }}{3} - \frac{\left[ \cos^2{ \left( \theta \right) } \right] ^2 }{5} \right\} + C \\ &= -243 \, \sqrt{ 1 - \sin^2{ \left( \theta \right) } } \left\{ \frac{1 - \sin^2{\left( \theta \right) } }{3} - \frac{\left[ 1 - \sin^2{ \left( \theta \right) } \right] ^2 }{5} \right\} + C \\ &= -243 \, \sqrt{ 1 - \left( \frac{x}{3} \right) ^2 } \left\{ \frac{1 - \left( \frac{x}{3} \right) ^2 }{3} - \frac{\left[ 1 - \left( \frac{x}{3} \right) ^2 \right] ^2 }{5} \right\} \end{align*}$

which you can now try to simplify if you want...
Edit: Got it. Thanks.

Thanks in advance.
 

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