Evaluate the integral? : int 1/(xsqrt(1-x^4)) dx1x1x4dx

1 Answer
Oct 3, 2017

int \ 1/(xsqrt(1-x^4)) \ dx = 1/4 (ln|sqrt(1-x^4)-1| -ln|sqrt(1-x^4)+1 )+ C

Explanation:

We seek:

I = 1/(xsqrt(1-x^4)) \ dx

Let us attempt an substitution of the form:

u = sqrt(1-x^4) => u^2 = 1-x^4 , and x^4 = 1-u^2

And differentiating wrt x we get:

2u(du)/dx = -4x^3 => (2u)/(-4x^4) (du)/dx = (-4x^3)/(-4x^4)
:. -(u)/(2x^4) (du)/dx = 1/x

If we substitute this into the integral, we get:

I = int \ (1/u) ( -(u)/(2(1-u^2))) \ du
\ \ = 1/2 \ int \ 1/(u^2-1) \ du

Now, we can decompose this new integrand into partial fractions:

1/(u^2-1) -= 1/((u+1)(u-1))
\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ = A/(u+1) + B/(u-1)
\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ = ( A(u-1) + B(u+1) ) / ((u+1)(u-1))

Leadin to:

1 = (u-1) + B(u+1)

Where A,B are constants that are to be determined. We can find them by substitutions (In practice we do this via the "cover up" method:

Put u = +1 => 0 = 2B => B=1/2
Put u = -1 => 0 = -2A => A=-1/2

Thus:

I = 1/2 \ int \ 1/(u^2-1) \ du
\ \ = 1/2 \ int \ {(-1/2)/(u+1) + (1/2)/(u-1)} \ du
\ \ = 1/4 \ int \ {1/(u-1) -1/(u+1)} \ du

Which we can directly integrate:

I = 1/4 (ln|u-1| -0 ln|u+1 )+ C

Restoring the substitution:

I = 1/4 (ln|sqrt(1-x^4)-1| -ln|sqrt(1-x^4)+1 )+ C