Solving a Stubborn Integral Problem

  • Thread starter Thread starter boa_co
  • Start date Start date
  • Tags Tags
    Integral
Join the discussion
Ask a follow-up here, or get your own question answered by working scientists, mathematicians and engineers — people, not an autocomplete.
Real named experts · corrections over time · the nuance an AI answer skips
1 reply · 1K views
boa_co
Messages
9
Reaction score
0

Homework Statement


I have to integrate

[PLAIN]http://img69.imageshack.us/img69/4259/integral1.gif

The Attempt at a Solution



This is how I did it

[PLAIN]http://img338.imageshack.us/img338/5508/integral12.gif

wolfram says it is supposed to turnout like this

[PLAIN]http://img690.imageshack.us/img690/1462/integral13.gif

Where does the extra 2 in the log come from?

Thanks
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Physics news on Phys.org
The answers are actually the same, up to a constant -2 ln(2).

With logarithms this is always tricky, because they satisfy
[tex]\ln(a \cdot b) = \ln(a) + \ln(b)[/tex]

Apparently Wolfram Alpha / Mathematica uses some other method to calculate the integral in which the 2 inside the log appear naturally.