Solve Insane Integral: Note do = 2*pi*sin(x) dx

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SUMMARY

The integral presented in the discussion, defined as do = 2*pi*sin(x) dx, poses significant challenges for manual evaluation. The user attempted a substitution with u = cos(1/2x), leading to a complex expression that proved unmanageable. The discussion highlights the necessity of integration by parts and suggests that the integral evaluates to a^2 * pi when properly simplified. The final result is derived from the limits 0 to X_max, transitioning u from 1 to 1/n.

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  • Understanding of integral calculus, specifically integration by parts.
  • Familiarity with trigonometric identities, particularly sin(x) = 2*sin(x/2)*cos(x/2).
  • Knowledge of substitution methods in integration, such as u-substitution.
  • Basic proficiency in MATLAB for numerical integration (optional, but mentioned).
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Students and educators in mathematics, particularly those focused on calculus, as well as anyone tackling complex integral problems manually or using computational tools.

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Homework Statement


http://img4.imageshack.us/img4/4224/landau.png
http://g.imageshack.us/img4/landau.png/1/

Note: do = 2*pi*sin(x) dx

Well, as you can see this is an extremely painful integral.




Homework Equations





The Attempt at a Solution



I have tried u = cos(1/2x) resulting in:
du = -sin(1/2 x) (1/2) dx
sin(x) = 2*sin(x/2)*cos(x/2)

(n^2 u - nu^2 - n + u)/(n^4 + 2n^2 - 4n^3 u + 4n^2 u^2 - 4nu) (by expanding both the top and bottom, but as you can see it's messy and useless, I'm also dropping the constant because I don't care about them right now).

I have no idea what kind of substitution to use for these beast... It evaluates to pi*a^2 with the integration limits 0 to X_max..

Anyone have any idea how to do this by hand? I am tempted to use Matlab, but I really am supposed to do it manually.
 
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The substitution you used is fruitful and if you don't work out the parentheses you should have gotten the following integral. (note that as x goes from 0 to xmax u goes from 1 to 1/n)

<br /> -2 a^2 n^2 \pi \int_1^{1/n} \frac{(n u-1)(n-u)}{(n^2+1-2 n u)^2}\,du<br />

Now note that \frac{d}{du}(n u-1)(n-u) = n^2+1-2 n u then use integration by parts. After some algebra you should get the value a^2 \pi.
 
Last edited:

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