Why does 1/x integrate to lnx?

If we let y = lnx, we then know that x = ey. By differentiating both sides of this equation with respect to y we get:dx/dy = ey, as the exponential function differentiates to itself when differentiated with respect to its power.But, as we noted earlier, x = ey, so we can substitute this in to get dx/dy = x.We can then take reciprocals of both sides to get dy/dx = 1/x.In other words the derivative of lnx is 1/x.But we know that integration is the opposite of differentiation (Fundamental Theorem of Calculus), giving us:The integral of 1/x is lnx.

CL

Related Maths A Level answers

All answers ▸

f(x) = x^3+2x^2-x-2 . Solve for f(x) = 0


Express the fraction (p+q)/(p-q) in the form m+n√2, where p=3-2√2 and q=2-√2.


Prove that 1/(tanx) + tanx = 1/sinxcosx


evaluate the integral 2x/((9+x^2)^1/2) between -2 and 0