TECHNIQUE OF INTEGRATION

B. INTEGRATION BY TRIGONOMETRIC SUBSTITUTION

Integration by trigonometric substitution is a technique used to evaluate integrals that involve

radical expressions of the form

𝑎 − 𝑢 , 𝑢 − 𝑎 , 𝑂𝑅 𝑢 + 𝑎

, where a is a constant. This method relies on trigonometric identities and substitutions to simplify
the integral into a form that can be easily evaluated using basic trigonometric functions.

The general steps for integration by trigonometric substitution are as f ollows:

1. Identify the appropriate trigonometric substitution based on the form of the radical expression:
 If the expression is of the form √𝑎 − 𝑢 , let sin(θ) =
 If the expression is of the form √𝑢 − 𝑎 , let sec(θ) =
 If the expression is of the form √𝑢 + 𝑎 , let tan(θ) =
2. Substitute the appropriate expression for u using the trigonometric identity.
3. Express du in terms of θ and dθ using differentiation.
4. Rewrite the integral in terms of θ and evaluate it using trigonometric identities and integration
techniques.
5. Finally, substitute back the original variable x using the inverse trigonometric functions to obtain
the final result.

Integration by trigonometric substitution is particularly useful for evaluating integrals involving

square roots of quadratic expressions. It allows us to transform these integrals into standard
trigonometric forms, making them easier to evaluate. This technique is commonly used in calculus
to solve various types of integrals involving trigonometric functions and radicals.

Solved problems.

1. ∫ √𝟒 − 𝒙𝟐 𝒅𝒙
∫ (2) − (𝑥) 𝑑𝑥 =∫ (𝑎) − (𝑢) 𝑑𝑥
a = 2; u = x let sin(θ) = (draw the ) x 2
θ
x = 2 sin(θ)
dx = 2 cos (θ) dθ √4 − x
√
cos (θ) = ; √4 − x = 2 cos (θ)

∫ √𝟒 − 𝒙𝟐 𝒅𝒙 = ∫ 2 cos (θ) • 2 cos (θ) dθ

= 4∫ 𝑐𝑜𝑠 𝜃 𝑑𝜃 = 4 ∫ (1 + 𝑐𝑜𝑠 2𝜃)𝑑𝜃
= 2∫ 𝑑∅ + 2 ∫ cos 2𝜃 2𝑑 𝜃
 = 2𝜃 + 𝑠𝑖𝑛 2𝜃 + 𝐶 since we assume sin 𝜃 = , 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝜃 = 𝑎𝑟𝑐 sin
= 2 arc sin + 2 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃 + 𝐶 based on identity sin 2𝜃 = 2𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃
√
= 2 𝑎𝑟𝑐 sin + 2 +𝐶
√
= 2 𝑎𝑟𝑐 sin + +𝐶

2. ∫ √𝟗𝒙𝟐 − 𝟐𝟓𝒅𝒙 = ∫ (3𝑥) − (5) 𝑑𝑥 = ∫ √𝑢 − 𝑎 𝑑𝑥

𝑢 = 3𝑥 ; 𝑎 = 5 let sec 𝜃 = 3x

𝑑𝑢 = 3 𝑑𝑥 𝑥= √9𝑥 − 25 θ

𝑑𝑥 = secθ tanθ 𝑑𝜃 5
√
tan 𝜃 = ; √9𝑥 − 25 = 5 𝑡𝑎𝑛𝜃
∫ √𝟗𝒙𝟐 − 𝟐𝟓 𝒅𝒙 = ∫ 5 𝑡𝑎𝑛𝜃 secθ tanθ 𝑑𝜃
= ∫ 𝑡𝑎𝑛 𝜃 𝑠𝑒𝑐 𝜃 𝑑𝜃 = ∫(𝑠𝑒𝑐 𝜃 − 1)𝑠𝑒𝑐 𝜃 𝑑𝜃
= ∫ 𝑠𝑒𝑐 𝜃𝑑𝜃 − ∫ 𝑠𝑒𝑐𝜃𝑑𝜃
= [ (𝑠𝑒𝑐𝜃𝑡𝑎𝑛𝜃 + ln |𝑠𝑒𝑐𝜃 + 𝑡𝑎𝑛𝜃)|] − ln |secθ + tanθ| + C
= [ (𝑠𝑒𝑐𝜃𝑡𝑎𝑛𝜃 + ln |𝑠𝑒𝑐𝜃 + 𝑡𝑎𝑛𝜃)|] − ln |secθ + tanθ| + C
= (𝑠𝑒𝑐𝜃𝑡𝑎𝑛𝜃 + ln |𝑠𝑒𝑐𝜃 + 𝑡𝑎𝑛𝜃)| − ln |secθ + tanθ| + C
= (𝑠𝑒𝑐𝜃𝑡𝑎𝑛𝜃) − ln |secθ + tanθ| + C
= (𝑠𝑒𝑐𝜃𝑡𝑎𝑛𝜃 − ln|secθ + tanθ|) + C
√ √
= ( − ln | + )|) + C
√
= 3𝑥√9𝑥 − 25 − 25 ln | +𝐶

3. ∫ 𝟏𝟔𝒙𝟐 + 𝟗𝒅𝒙 = ∫ (4𝑥) + (3) 𝑑𝑥 = ∫ √𝑢 + 𝑎 𝑑𝑥

𝑢 = 4𝑥 ; 𝑎=3 𝑙𝑒𝑡 𝑡𝑎𝑛𝜃 = √16𝑥 + 9

𝑑𝑢 = 4 𝑑𝑥 𝑥= 4x θ

𝑑𝑥 = 𝑠𝑒𝑐 𝜃 𝑑𝜃 3

= 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃
√
√16𝑥 + 9 = 3 𝑠𝑒𝑐𝜃

∫ 𝟏𝟔𝒙𝟐 + 𝟗 𝒅𝒙 = ∫ 3𝑠𝑒𝑐𝜃 𝑠𝑒𝑐 𝜃 𝑑𝜃 = ∫ 𝑠𝑒𝑐 𝜃𝑑𝜃

= [𝑠𝑒𝑐𝜃𝑡𝑎𝑛𝜃 + ln|𝑠𝑒𝑐𝜃 + 𝑡𝑎𝑛𝜃|] + 𝐶
√ √
= + ln | + +𝐶
 = 4𝑥√16𝑥 + 9 + ln √16𝑥 + 9 + 4𝑥 + 𝐶
= (4x√16𝑥 + 9 + 3 ln √16𝑥 + 9 + 4𝑥 ) + 𝐶

𝒅𝒙
4. ∫
𝒙𝟐 𝟒 𝒙𝟐
√
𝑎 =4 let 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃 = ; cos 𝜃 = x 2
θ
a=2 𝑥 = 2 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃 ; √4 − 𝑥 = 2 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃
𝑢 = 𝑥 𝑑𝑥 = 2 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃 𝑑𝜃 𝑡𝑎𝑛𝜃 = √4 − 𝑥
√
u=x
𝒅𝒙
∫ =∫ = ∫
𝒙𝟐 𝟒 𝒙𝟐 ( ) ( )

= ∫ 𝑐𝑠𝑐 𝜃 𝑑𝜃
= – 𝑐𝑜𝑡𝜃 + 𝐶
√
=− + 𝐶

𝒅𝒙 √
5. ∫ 𝟑 =∫ let 𝑡𝑎𝑛𝜃 = ; 𝑠𝑒𝑐𝜃 =
(√ )
(𝟒 𝒙𝟐 )𝟐

𝑎 =4; 𝑎=2 x √4 + 𝑥 𝑥 = 2 𝑡𝑎𝑛𝜃 √4 + 𝑥 = 2 𝑠𝑒𝑐𝜃

θ
𝑢 =𝑥 ; 𝑢=𝑥 𝑑𝑥 = 2𝑠𝑒𝑐 𝜃𝑑𝜃
2
𝒅𝒙
∫ 𝟑 =∫ = ∫
(√ ) ( )
(𝟒 𝒙𝟐 )𝟐

= ∫ 𝑑𝜃 = ∫
= ∫ 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃 𝑑𝜃
= 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃 + 𝐶
= +𝐶
√
𝒅𝒛 √ √
6. ∫ let 𝑡𝑎𝑛𝜃 = ; 𝑠𝑒𝑐𝜃 =
𝒛 𝟒 𝟐𝒛𝟐

𝑎 =4; 𝑎=2 √4 + 2𝑧 𝑧= 𝑡𝑎𝑛𝜃 ; √4 + 2𝑧 = 2 𝑠𝑒𝑐𝜃

√
𝑢 = 2𝑧 √2𝑧 θ 𝑑𝑧 = 𝑠𝑒𝑐 𝜃𝑑𝜃
√
𝑢 = √2 𝑧 2

𝒅𝒛 √
∫ =∫ = ∫
𝒛 𝟒 𝟐𝒛𝟐 ∙
√
∙
= ∫ = ∫ 𝑑𝜃 = ∫ 𝑐𝑠𝑐𝜃 𝑑𝜃

= ln|𝑐𝑠𝑐𝜃 − 𝑐𝑜𝑡𝜃| + 𝐶
 √ √
= ln | − | + 𝐶 = ln | |+𝐶
√ √ √
√ (√ )
= ln | |+C

𝒍𝒏𝟑 𝒚 𝒅𝒚
7. ∫ 𝑙𝑛 𝑦 − 9 ln y let 𝑠𝑒𝑐𝜃 = ; ln 𝑦 = 3 𝑠𝑒𝑐𝜃
𝒚 𝒍𝒏𝟐 𝒚 𝟗 θ
𝑎 =9 ; 𝑎=3 3 = 3 𝑠𝑒𝑐𝜃 𝑡𝑎𝑛𝜃𝑑𝜃

𝑢 = 𝑙𝑛 𝑦 ; , 𝑢 = ln 𝑦 𝑡𝑎𝑛𝜃 =
𝑙𝑛 𝑦 − 9 = 3 𝑡𝑎𝑛𝜃
𝒍𝒏𝟑 𝒚 𝒅𝒚
∫ =∫ ∙
𝒚 𝒍𝒏𝟐 𝒚 𝟗
( )
=∫ ∙ 3𝑠𝑒𝑐𝜃 𝑡𝑎𝑛𝜃 𝑑𝜃
= 27 ∫ 𝑠𝑒𝑐 𝜃 𝑑𝜃
= 27 ∫ 𝑠𝑒𝑐 𝜃 𝑠𝑒𝑐 𝜃 𝑑𝜃
= 27 ∫(1 + 𝑡𝑎𝑛 𝜃) 𝑠𝑒𝑐 𝜃 𝑑𝜃
= 27 ∫ 𝑠𝑒𝑐 𝜃 𝜃 + 27 ∫ 𝑡𝑎𝑛 𝜃𝑠𝑒𝑐 𝜃 𝑑𝜃
= 27 𝑡𝑎𝑛𝜃 + 27 +𝐶
= 27 𝑡𝑎𝑛𝜃 + 9 𝑡𝑎𝑛 𝜃 + 𝐶
= 9 𝑡𝑎𝑛𝜃 (3 + 𝑡𝑎𝑛 𝜃) + 𝐶
=9 3+ + 𝐶
( )
=9 + 𝐶

= (18 + 𝑙𝑛 𝑦) + 𝐶

𝒆𝒙 𝒅𝒙
8. ∫ 𝟑 =∫ =∫ =∫
(𝒆𝟐𝒙 𝟖𝒆𝒙 𝟕)𝟐 [ ] [ ] [ ( ) ]

𝑎 =9 ; 𝑎=3
𝑢 = (𝑒 + 4) ; 𝑢 = (𝑒 + 4)

( )
let sec 𝜃 = ; 𝑒 + 4 = 3𝑠𝑒𝑐𝜃 (𝑒 + 4) − 9] (𝑒 + 4)
θ
𝑒 𝑑𝑥 = 3 𝑠𝑒𝑐𝜃 𝑡𝑎𝑛𝜃 𝑑𝜃
3
( ) ]
tan 𝜃 = ; (𝑒 + 4) − 9 = 3 𝑡𝑎𝑛𝜃

𝒆𝒙 𝒅𝒙
∫ 𝟑 =∫ = ∫ ( )
=∫
(𝒆𝟐𝒙 𝟖𝒆𝒙 𝟕)𝟐 [ ( ) ]

= ∫ = ∫ = ∫

= ∫(𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃) 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃 𝑑𝜃
 ( )
= + 𝐶 = + 𝐶
( )
= +C
( )

Activity.

Evaluate.

1. ∫
( )

2. ∫ 5 − 𝑦 𝑑𝑦

3. ∫
( )

√
4. ∫

5. ∫
√