Whats the name of this function?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the identification of a specific mathematical function encountered in the integral of a given expression. Participants explore the nature of the function, its classification, and the results obtained from different integral computations. The scope includes mathematical reasoning and exploration of integral calculus.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Mathematical reasoning

Main Points Raised

  • One participant inquires about the name of a function that appears in the integral of a specific expression, which includes a Hypergeometric function denoted as 2F1.
  • Another participant identifies the function as Hypergeometric2F1, providing a reference to its classification as a Hypergeometric Function.
  • A different participant shares their experience with a similar integral that resulted in standard functions, suggesting a possible change of variable could simplify the original integral.
  • This participant notes that the difference in the exponent (11/2 versus 5.5) may be crucial in obtaining simpler results and mentions potential cancellations in the resulting expression.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express differing experiences with integrals that lead to either Hypergeometric functions or standard functions, indicating that there is no consensus on the nature of the original integral's result.

Contextual Notes

There are unresolved aspects regarding the conditions under which different forms of the integral yield varying results, particularly concerning the choice of variables and exponents.

granpa
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this site:
http://integrals.wolfram.com
gives the integral of this function:


((2.5e+9)*x^5.5)/(((1.25e+10)-x)*(1e55))

but the answer contains some function I've never heard of before and can't find in the documentation.

it looks like 2F1 (6.5, 1; 7.5; 8.02014*10^-11x)

whats the name of this function?
 
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Well right at the bottom of the page that gives the anti-derivative, you have two links to the function named Hypergeometric2F1 (Hypergeometric Function).
 
Good site.

I just tried \int \frac{x^{11/2}}{1-x} and I got a result in terms of only standard functions (just log sqrt and polymonials).

Your integral can easily be put in the above form with a change of variable so I'm not sure why you got a Hypergeometric?BTW. The result I got was :

\frac{-2 \sqrt{x} \, (3465 + 1155 x + 693 x^2 + 495 x^3 + 385 x^4 + 315 x^5 )} {3465}\, - \, \log(-1 + \sqrt{x}) \,+\, \log(1 + \sqrt{x})Note that I entered your integral (or one trivially close to it) in the form that I thought would be least likely to confuse the program. I find that this is usually a good idea if you're hoping to get an answer in it's simplest form.

BTW. Just substitute x = 1.25E+10 u to put your itegral into the above form.
 
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BTW: I just checked and it was only the 11/2 versus the 5.5 that was needed to give the simpler result.Also it seems that there's plenty of factors that cancel in the above.
-2 \sqrt{x} \, (1 \,+\, \frac{1}{3}\, x \,+\, \frac{1}{5}\, x^2 \,+\, \frac{1}{7}\, x^3 \, +\, \frac{1}{9}\, x^4 \, +\, \frac{1}{11} x^5 ) - \, \log(-1 + \sqrt{x}) \,+\, \log(1 + \sqrt{x})
 
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