• Congratulations to the Class of 2024 on your results!
    Let us know how you went here
    Got a question about your uni preferences? Ask us here

integration by substitution (1 Viewer)

izzy_xo

Member
Joined
Apr 19, 2009
Messages
59
Gender
Female
HSC
2010
hey guys

for the question:

using the substitution u^2= x + 2

find the integral of (x-2)/square root of (x+2)

to solve this would you just square root the u^2 substitution
so u= square root of (x+2) and just sub that in?

many thanks
 

shaon0

...
Joined
Mar 26, 2008
Messages
2,029
Location
Guess
Gender
Male
HSC
2009
hey guys

for the question:

using the substitution u^2= x + 2

find the integral of (x-2)/square root of (x+2)

to solve this would you just square root the u^2 substitution
so u= square root of (x+2) and just sub that in?

many thanks
S (x-2)/sqrt(x+2) dx
= S (u^2-4)/sqrt(u^2) 2udu
= 2 S (u^2-4) du
= 2[(1/3)u^3-4u]+C
= 2sqrt(x+2).[(1/3)(x+2)-4]+C

Yes, is the answer to your question where applicable
 

Ayatollah

Member
Joined
Sep 27, 2009
Messages
66
Gender
Undisclosed
HSC
N/A
let u=s.r(x+2)
then find du/dx
then rearrange to get du=''''''dx
then sub that into the original (it fits nicely)
now you have integral of 2(x-2) with respect to 'u'
now sub in x=(u^2)-2 (just a rearrangement from original subsitution)
then its just simply intergral with respect to 'u'
then sub back in u=s.r(x+2)
 

marmsie

New Member
Joined
Jan 29, 2010
Messages
20
Gender
Male
HSC
2002
I am going to go against popular opinion and say that it is not entirely correct.

Firstly the mistake, if

u^2 = x + 2

then

u = sqrt(x + 2) AND u = -sqrt(x + 2)

e.g. if x = 7, then u^2 = 9 but then u could be either +3 or -3.

So unless you are going to take both cases and do the integration for each (which you are more then free to do so), then I suggest you wait until the end.

To do the substition using u^2:

u^2 = x + 2

x = u^2 -2

dx / du = 2u

dx = 2u du

subbing into the integral gives:

[(x - 2) / sqrt(x + 2)] dx

[(u^2 - 4) / sqrt(u^2)] 2u du

2u[(u^2 - 4) / u] du

2u^2 - 8 du

integrating:

2/3 u^3 - 8u + C

2/3 u (u^2 - 12) + C

subbing the x's back into the equation: (here we will have to take the sqrt of u^2 to sub it in for the u out the front)

+/- 2/3 sqrt(x + 2) (x + 2 - 12)

which gives the answer to be:

+/- 2/3 (x -10) sqrt(x + 2)

which with the exception of the +/- is the same answer that shaon0 calculated.
 

cyl123

Member
Joined
Dec 17, 2005
Messages
95
Location
N/A
Gender
Male
HSC
2007
um... try differentiating both answers you got... clearly only the positive case is valid
 

marmsie

New Member
Joined
Jan 29, 2010
Messages
20
Gender
Male
HSC
2002
Good point, well made.

Clearly, differentiating my answers showed that only the +ve solution holds true (also looking over it again, I realise I dropped my + C).

But I can not see any reason why if u^2 = x + 2, then u only equals +sqrt(x+2)

After all, if you were to graph u^2 = x + 2 then you have a complete side ways parabola with its vertex at (0 , -2).

So unless there is a reason why we can ignore the -ve value of u (and I am beginning to think there might be, but apart from the final answer not working I can not see it), then to be mathematically correct you would have to give both +ve and -ve answers but then state that only one of your answers actually fits. It would be like an absolute value question where you must test your answers because sometimes one or more values do not actually fit when you sub them back in.

Also, as an aside. If the question did not state which substitution to use, then I would have just let u = +sqrt(x+2) and that would avoid this situation completely.
 
Last edited:

yugi

Member
Joined
Apr 19, 2009
Messages
36
Gender
Undisclosed
HSC
2010
hey guys

for the question:

using the substitution u^2= x + 2

find the integral of (x-2)/square root of (x+2)

to solve this would you just square root the u^2 substitution
so u= square root of (x+2) and just sub that in?

many thanks

hey, sorry no idea how to use latex and um might wanna check this but i got:

u^2=x+2
so differentiating both sides at once gives you:
2udu=dx
from the given substitution we can deduce that
x=u^2-2

so ...
integral of x-2/root (x+2)dx
= integral of u^2-2-2/root of u^2 multiplied by 2udu (substituting for dx)
= integral of u^2-2/u multiplied by 2udu
= 2 integral of u^2-2 du
= 2 [u^3/3 -2u] + C
 

YashC3

Member
Joined
Jul 18, 2009
Messages
49
Gender
Male
HSC
2010
Is the substitution of u squared still part of the 3uint syllabus. I know a lot of 3u text books still have u squared, but Im pretty sure it got moved to 4unit? Anyone know anything about that ?
 

Trebla

Administrator
Administrator
Joined
Feb 16, 2005
Messages
8,401
Gender
Male
HSC
2006
[(x - 2) / sqrt(x + 2)] dx

[(u^2 - 4) / sqrt(u^2)] 2u du

2u[(u^2 - 4) / u] du

2u^2 - 8 du

integrating:

2/3 u^3 - 8u + C

2/3 u (u^2 - 12) + C

subbing the x's back into the equation: (here we will have to take the sqrt of u^2 to sub it in for the u out the front)

+/- 2/3 sqrt(x + 2) (x + 2 - 12)

which gives the answer to be:

+/- 2/3 (x -10) sqrt(x + 2)

which with the exception of the +/- is the same answer that shaon0 calculated.
Using your argument of the positive and negative case, the expression in bold above would technically be the absolute value of u. You're correct in pointing out there must be a positive and negative case but there is a small flaw in the working you showed. This is what it should look like:



Notice that both positive or negative case give the same answer. To avoid confusion most people opt for the positive case, though technically one should write u > 0.
 
Last edited:

stephoe

New Member
Joined
Feb 26, 2010
Messages
14
Gender
Female
HSC
2010
thanks pwnage101
I got another question as well..


i got upto..



.. I dont know how to simplify from that? Yes I know my algebra and technique is useless
 

shaon0

...
Joined
Mar 26, 2008
Messages
2,029
Location
Guess
Gender
Male
HSC
2009
thanks pwnage101
I got another question as well..


i got upto..



.. I dont know how to simplify from that? Yes I know my algebra and technique is useless
Yeah, this is how i used to do it during my HSC.
just multiply the 3 into the square root. So; dy/dx=4/sqrt(9-16x^2)
 

Drongoski

Well-Known Member
Joined
Feb 22, 2009
Messages
4,255
Gender
Male
HSC
N/A
I know this question has been flogged to death.

Without formal substitution, using the drongoski approach:



Edit:
I'm sorry; I did not notice question was originally posted in February.
 
Last edited:

Trebla

Administrator
Administrator
Joined
Feb 16, 2005
Messages
8,401
Gender
Male
HSC
2006
lol @ "drogonski method"
 

Drongoski

Well-Known Member
Joined
Feb 22, 2009
Messages
4,255
Gender
Male
HSC
N/A
Is the drogonski method ok for 3unit?
Most teachers have never seen it done this way or are uncomfortable with it because they are not familiar with it, when shown, perhaps the first time. They think there is something fishy about it. There is nothing illegitimate about it except that most teachers would rather you did it the official (conventional) way, just to be safe.
 
Last edited:

Trebla

Administrator
Administrator
Joined
Feb 16, 2005
Messages
8,401
Gender
Male
HSC
2006
It's pretty much substitution anyway but without calling it u = ... formally. Either way, the integral with the indices (x+2)0.5 etc can be done wrt x rather than wrt (x + 2) anyway. It's just a standard reverse chain rule problem.
 

Users Who Are Viewing This Thread (Users: 0, Guests: 1)

Top