Test 1 Review

Topics covered:

Integration by parts

Trigonometric integrals

Trigonometric substitution

Partial fraction decomposition

Improper integrals

Sequences

Integration by parts
The general idea is that of an inverse product rule: we take a function of a single part and break it into
two upon integration. Let u(x) and v(x) be functions of x. Then the following holds:
u(x)v (x) dx = u(x)v(x)

v(x)u (x) dx

Or, as it is most typically abbreviated:

u dv = uv

v du

This method entails finding a dv which is easy to integrate, that will interact with the du to give you the
means to integrate the v du term in the formula.
Ex:

ln x dx

Take u = ln x and dv = dx. Then du = x1 dx and v = x. Hence,

ln x dx

=
=
=
=

uv v du
x ln x x x1 dx
x ln x dx
x ln x x + C

Trigonometric integrals
Here, we use various trigonometric identities to put an integral involving trig functions into a more easily
integrable form. Some important trig identities to this end are included below:
sin2 x + cos2 x
tan2 x + 1
cot2 x + 1
sin(2x)
cos(2x)
sin(a + b)
sin(a b)
cos(a + b)
cos(a b)

=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=

1
sec2 x
csc2 x
2 sin(x) cos(x)
2 cos2 x 1
sin(a) cos(b) + cos(a) sin(b)
sin(a) cos(b) cos(a) sin(b)
cos(a) cos(b) sin(a) sin(b)
cos(a) cos(b) + sin(a) sin(b)

sin2 (x)
cos2 (x)
sin(a) cos(b)
cos(a) cos(b)
sin(a) sin(b)

=
=
=
=
=

1
2 (1 cos(2x))
1
2 (1 + cos(2x))
1
2 (sin(a + b) + sin(a b))
1
2 (cos(a + b) + cos(a b))
1
2 (cos(a b) cos(a + b))

Trigonometric substitution
For this technique, you will substitute equations in x within your integral for equations in on an appropriate
right triangle. Be sure that the triangle you formulate satisfies the Pythagorean Theorem: if the lengths of
the two legs of your triangle are a and b, while the length of the hypotenuse
is c, then it should be the case
that a2 + b2 = c2 . For instance, if I assign a leg of my triangle the value x2 1, then one possible correct
formulation for the triangle would be to assign to the other leg the value 1 and to the hypotenuse the value x.
(Note: it would be incorrect to assign x to the other leg and 1 to the hypotenuse, since in this case, the sum of
the squares of the legs is not equal to the square of the hypotenuse)
Ex:

1
x2 1

dx

Using the triangle specified above and placing our adjacent to the x2 1 leg, we get that
and x = csc ; differentiating the latter with respect to x then yields dx = csc cot d. So,
1
x2 1

dx

=
=
=
=
=

1
x2 1

= tan

tan ( csc cot ) d

csc d
( ln | csc + cot |) + C
ln | csc + cot | + C
ln |x + x2 1| + C

Partial fraction decomposition

This technique will generally be used on integrals being taken over quotients of polynomials. So long as the
numerator has degree strictly less than that of the denominator, then you may decomposethe quotient into a
sum of terms more easily integrable than the original function.
Suppose your function is of the form
f (x)
(x a1 )(x a2 ) (x an )
Then we may factorize the product as follows:
A1
f (x)
A2
An
=
+
+ +
(x a1 )(x a2 ) (x an )
x a1
x a2
x an
By looking at the following equation, and setting x equal to a1 , a2 , . . . , an one at a time, we can obtain the
values of A1 , A2 , . . . , An .
f (x) = A1 (xa2 )(xa3 ) (xan )+A2 (xa1 )(xa3 )(xa4 ) (xan ))+ +An (xa1 )(xa2 ) (xan1 )
If there are irreducible functions in the denominator with degree greater than 1, then the numerator will
have degree one less than the corresponding denominator term. For instance, the following decomposition will
hold:
f (x)
A
B1 x + B2
C1 x2 + C2 x + C3
=
+
+
(x + 1)(x2 + 1)(x3 + x + 1)
x+1
x2 + 1
x3 + x + 1

Improper integrals
Improper integration takes the standard concept of integration and extends it to functions going to infinity
and over functions with discontinuities. To accomplish this, we will include limits in our integrals. An improper
integral is said to converge if the integral exists, and it diverges otherwise.
However, one need not actually evaluate the integral to determine convergence. For this, we may apply the

Comparison Test. If 0 g(x) f (x) on (a, ), then

diverges if

g(x) dx diverges.
a

g(x) dx converges if
a

f (x) dx converges, and

a

f (x) dx
a

Ex: Find conditions for convergence on

0

1
xp

dx

Suppose that p > 1. Then we have

1
0

1
xp

dx

lim

1
xp

lim+

1
(1p)(xp1 )

a0+ a

dx
1

a0

1
1p

diverges

a
1
p1
(1p)a

lim

a0+

Suppose that p = 1. Then we have

1
0

1
xp

dx

lim+

a0

1
x

dx
1

lim (ln x)

a0+

lim+ ln a

diverges

a0

Suppose that p < 1. Then we have

1
0

1
xp

dx

=
=

lim

a0+

lim+

a0

=
=
1

So,
0

1
xp

1
1p
1
1p

xp dx

1
x1p
1p

lim+
a0

a
a1p
1p

dx converges if and only if p < 1.

Sequences
You may think of sequences as being functions that are defined only on the integers. In fact, you can turn
an arbitrary function f (x) into a sequence by taking f (n) for each n = 1, 2, 3, . . . so long as f (n) is defined on
each of those points. If this condition is met, then you will obtain a sequence f (1), f (2), f (3), . . . , f (n), . . .
To say that the limit of a sequence exists is to say that as we take integers going off to infinity, our function
will approach a given value. Note that if lim f (x) exists, then so does lim f (n) , and lim f (x) = lim f (n).
x

The converse does not hold in general, as the existence of lim f (n) does not imply the existence of lim f (x).
n

Ex: Find lim sin(n). (Note: lim sin(x) does not exist.)
n

sin(n) = 0 for each n. Therefore, our sequence is 0, 0, 0, .... Hence, lim sin(n) = 0
n