Tricky Integral ( with substitution)

Click For Summary

Homework Help Overview

The discussion revolves around the integral \(\int \frac{ds}{(s^2 + d^2)^{\frac{3}{2}}}\), where \(s\) is a variable and \(d\) is a constant. Participants explore various substitution techniques to evaluate this integral, expressing challenges with conventional methods.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory, Mathematical reasoning, Assumption checking

Approaches and Questions Raised

  • Participants discuss different substitution methods, including \(u\)-substitution and trigonometric substitutions. Some express difficulty with the integral, while others suggest alternative substitutions like \(s = d \tan x\) and \(s = d \sinh t\). There is also mention of the appropriateness of hyperbolic functions in this context.

Discussion Status

The conversation is active, with multiple participants contributing different substitution strategies. While some participants share their attempts and results, others provide insights into the use of trigonometric and hyperbolic substitutions. There is no explicit consensus on the best approach, but various lines of reasoning are being explored.

Contextual Notes

Participants note the challenge of integrating the given function and the potential for using trigonometric identities. There is an acknowledgment that some techniques, like hyperbolic substitutions, may not be familiar to all students, particularly those outside specific fields of study.

PFStudent
Messages
169
Reaction score
0

Homework Statement



[tex] {\int_{}^{}}{ \frac{ds}{{({s}^{2}+{d}^{2})}^{\frac{3}{2}}}}[/tex]

[itex]s[/itex] [itex]\equiv[/itex] variable

[itex]d[/itex] [itex]\equiv[/itex] constant

Homework Equations



u-substitution techniques for integration.

The Attempt at a Solution



This integral is particularly tricky as I have already made several attempts using conventional u-substitution, however this integral is not coming out right.

Below is my best attempt,

If I split the denominator and multiply the top and bottom by [itex]s[/itex],

[tex] {\frac{sds}{{s{({s}^{2}+{d}^{2})}^{\frac{1}{2}}}{{({s}^{2}+{d}^{2})}^{1}}}}[/tex]

And let,

[tex] u = {s}^{2}+{d}^{2}[/tex]

[tex] du = 2sds [/tex]

With the substitution yields,

[tex] {\frac{1}{2}}{\int_{}^{}}{\frac{du}{{{u}^{\frac{3}{2}}}{\sqrt{{u}-{d}^{2}}}}}[/tex]

However, this seems to get me no where.

Any help is appreciated.

Thanks,

-PFStudent

P.S.: I do realize I can look this up in the integraion tables, however I would like to know how to do this on my own without using a table.
 
Last edited:
Physics news on Phys.org
Let s= d tan x, so ds = d sec^2 x dx. Then the integral becomes [tex]\int \frac{d \sec^2 x}{ ( d^2 \tan^2 x + d^2)^{3/2}} dx. Shouldn't be too hard from there.[/tex]
 
PFStudent said:
[tex] {\int_{}^{}}{ \frac{ds}{{({s}^{2}+{d}^{2})}^{\frac{3}{2}}}}[/tex]

As a bit of advice, when you see a term in your integrand that looks like

[tex]{{({s}^{2}+{d}^{2})}^{\frac{1}{2}}}[/tex] ,

[tex]{{({s}^{2}-{d}^{2})}^{\frac{1}{2}}}[/tex] , or

[tex]{{({d}^{2}-{s}^{2})}^{\frac{1}{2}}}[/tex] ,

it is an immediate candidate for the "trigonometic substitution" method when there is no (s ds) term outside the radical.
 
try letting s = d*tan(s)
 
Make the substitution [itex]s=d\sinh t[/itex] and you'll get 1/d^2 times

[tex]\int \frac{dt}{\cosh^2 t}=\tanh t +C[/tex]
 
Hey,

Thanks for the help guys.

Yea, I forgot that I could use the technique of Trigonometric substitution for Integrals.

Yea, so what I did was the following,

[tex] {\int_{}^{}}{ \frac{ds}{{({s}^{2}+{d}^{2})}^{\frac{3}{2}}}}[/tex]

[tex] {\int_{}^{}}{\frac{ds}{\left[{\left({\frac{{d}^{2}}{1}}{\frac {1}{{d}^{2}}}\right)}{\left({s}^{2}+{d}^{2}\right)\right]^{\frac{3}{2}}}}}[/tex]

[tex] {\int_{}^{}}{\frac{ds}{{d^3}{\left({\left(\frac{s}{d}\right)}^{2}+{1}^{}\right)}^{\frac{3}{2}}}}[/tex]

Letting,

[tex] {tan}{\theta} = {\frac{s}{d}}[/tex]

and considering the trigonometric identity,

[tex] {{tan}^{2}}{\theta} + 1 = {sec}^{2}{\theta}[/tex]

[tex] {\int_{}^{}}{\frac{ds}{{d^3}{\left({sec}^{2}{\theta}\right)}^{\frac{3}{2}}}}[/tex]

Rewriting,

[tex] {s} = {d}{tan}{\theta}[/tex]

[tex] {ds} = {d}{sec}^{2}{\theta}{d{\theta}}[/tex]

[tex] {\int_{}^{}}{\frac{\left({d}{sec}^{2}{\theta}{d{\theta}}\right)}{{d^3}{\left({sec}^{2}{\theta}\right)}^{\frac{3}{2}}}}[/tex]

Simplifying and factoring out all constants,

[tex] {\frac{1}{{d}^{2}}}{\int_{}^{}}{{cos}{\theta}{d\theta}}[/tex]

Integrating and noting that,

[tex] {sin}{\theta} = {\frac{s}{\sqrt{{s}^{2}+{d}^{2}}}}[/tex]

Yields,

[tex] {\frac{1}{{d}^{2}}}\left[{\frac{s}{\sqrt{{s}^{2}+{d}^{2}}}}+{C_{1}}\right][/tex]

Reducing to,

[tex] {\frac{s}{{{d}^{2}}{\sqrt{{s}^{2}+{d}^{2}}}}+{C}[/tex]

Thanks for the help Gib Z, dynamicsolo, JonF. Also, I did not know I could do the subsititution with hyperbolic trigonometric functions, thanks dextercioby.

-PFStudent
 
Last edited:
You may have noticed that dextercioby always prefers hyperbolic trig substitutions!
 
HallsofIvy said:
You may have noticed that dextercioby always prefers hyperbolic trig substitutions!

Yes, I was going to say that, while the hyperbolic trig substitutions are certainly elegant, a lot of people in first-year calculus are not even shown those functions. Indeed, outside of physics and some branches of engineering, hardly anyone even uses them, so they are usually discussed or even introduced only in courses for students majoring in those fields...
 

Similar threads

Replies
3
Views
2K
Replies
6
Views
3K
  • · Replies 7 ·
Replies
7
Views
2K
  • · Replies 12 ·
Replies
12
Views
2K
  • · Replies 21 ·
Replies
21
Views
2K
Replies
5
Views
2K
  • · Replies 4 ·
Replies
4
Views
2K
  • · Replies 19 ·
Replies
19
Views
3K
  • · Replies 12 ·
Replies
12
Views
2K
  • · Replies 6 ·
Replies
6
Views
2K