5
$\begingroup$

Find $$\int \frac{\sin(x)}{1+\sin(x)\cos(x)} dx$$

What I have tried

First method was to try $u$ substitution

Let $u=\cos(x)$ then $-du=\sin(x)dx$ then $\sin(x)=\sqrt{1-u^2} $ which transforms our integral into

$$ \int \frac{\sin(x)}{1+\sin(x)\cos(x)} dx=-\int \frac{1}{1+u\sqrt{1-u^2}}du=-\int \frac{1-u\sqrt{1-u^2}}{u^4-u^2+1}du$$

I think the might the denominator could be seperated since we get $u^2= \frac{1\pm \sqrt{3}i}{2}$ but I wouldn't know how to proceed after that.

Another method I have tried is this

Using the Weierstrass substitution

Let $\tan(x/2)=t$ , so $\sin(t) = \frac{2t}{1+t^2}$ , $\cos(t)=\frac{1-t^2}{1+t^2}$ and $dx=\frac{2dt}{1+t^2}$

Which transforms our integral as such

$$ \int \frac{\sin(x)}{1+\sin(x)\cos(x)}dx= \frac{4t}{t^4-2t^3+2t^2+2t+1} dt$$

I can't seem to find any roots by rational root theorem for the denonminator so I don't know how to proceed once again..

$\endgroup$
2
  • $\begingroup$ You have to find the indefinite integral, or are there bounds? $\endgroup$ Commented Dec 8, 2016 at 0:54
  • $\begingroup$ @GFauxPas indefinite. $\endgroup$ Commented Dec 8, 2016 at 0:55

3 Answers 3

6
$\begingroup$

\begin{align*} &~~~~~\int\frac{\sin x}{1+\sin x\cos x}{\rm d}x\\ &=\int\frac{2\sin x}{2+2\sin x\cos x}{\rm d}x\\ &=\int\frac{(\sin x+\cos x)+(\sin x-\cos x)}{2+2\sin x\cos x}{\rm d}x\\ &=\int\frac{\sin x+\cos x}{2+2\sin x\cos x}{\rm d}x+\int\frac{\sin x-\cos x}{2+2\sin x\cos x}{\rm d}x\\ &=\int\frac{\sin x+\cos x}{3-(\sin x-\cos x)^2}{\rm d}x+\int\frac{\sin x-\cos x}{(\sin x+\cos x)^2+1}{\rm d}x\\ &=\int\frac{{\rm d}(\sin x-\cos x)}{3-(\sin x-\cos x)^2}-\int\frac{{\rm d}(\sin x+\cos x)}{(\sin x+\cos x)^2+1}\\ &=\frac{1}{2\sqrt{3}}\ln\left|\frac{\sin x-\cos x+\sqrt{3}}{\sin x-\cos x-\sqrt{3}}\right|-\arctan(\sin x+\cos x)+C \end{align*}

$\endgroup$
2
$\begingroup$

I wanted to post this as a comment, but I don't have enough points.

Anyway, I guess the trigonometric identity $\sin 2x = 2 \sin x \cdot \cos x$ may be useful for evaluating this integral. Good luck.

$\endgroup$
1
1
$\begingroup$

Notice that

$$\left(t^4 - 2t^3 + 2t^2 + 2t + 1\right) \left(t^4 \color{red}+ 2t^3 + 2t^2 \color{red}- 2t + 1\right) = t^8 + 14t^4 + 1$$

which has roots (assuming the principal branch of $\sqrt z$) at

$$t^4=-7\pm4\sqrt3 \implies t^2 = i \left(2\pm\sqrt3\right) \implies t = \sqrt{2\pm\sqrt3} \, e^{i\theta}, \theta \in \left\{\pm\dfrac{3\pi}4, \pm\dfrac\pi4\right\}$$

From this we can infer the roots and subsequent factorization of

$$\begin{align*} f(t) &= t^4 - 2t^3 + 2t^2 + 2t + 1 \\ &= \left(t^2 + (1-a) t + a\right) \left(t^2 + (1-b) t + b\right) \end{align*}$$

where $(a,b) = \left(2-\sqrt3, 2+\sqrt3\right)$.

Partial fraction expansion is the next logical step; we find

$$\frac{4t}{f(t)} = \frac{At+B}{t^2+(1-a)t+a} + \frac{Ct+D}{t^2+(1-b)t+b} \implies (A,B,C,D) = \frac{(1,-a,-1,b)}{\sqrt3}$$

which leaves us with the easy but unexciting task of recovering the same (up to constant of integration) $\log$ and $\arctan$ expressions given in mengdie1982's answer.

$\endgroup$

You must log in to answer this question.

Start asking to get answers

Find the answer to your question by asking.

Ask question

Explore related questions

See similar questions with these tags.