How do I integrate by substitution?

Let's take for example the integral 5x2(x3-4)4dx. This is very difficult and not at all nice to expand in terms of x, so we can effectively "create" a new variable, u, and set it to equal x3-4. When we differentiate u, we find 3x2. (Would write the maths on the whiteboard). As du/dx = 3x2, we can say that du = 3x2dx, which we can see is in the original integral. Therefore, we can sub in du, to get the integral 5/3*(x3-4)4du. We can also see that the expression inside the brackets is just u, giving the final integral 5/3*u4du. This is much easier to integrate, and gives a much simpler answer. We can then sub in u = x3-4 when we have finished. So essentially, we just sub in a single variable which represents a more complicated function, integrate in terms of this simple variable, and then sub in the complicated function at the end. This makes integration much easier!

EC

Related Maths A Level answers

All answers ▸

Differentiate the following: y = 3x^(1/3) + 2


Integrate (x^2 +2)(2x-6) with respect to x.


Show that sin2A is equal to 2sinAcosA


A hollow sphere of radius r is being filled with water. The surface area of a hemisphere is 3pi*r^2. Question: When the water is at height r, and filling at a rate of 4cm^3s^-1, what is dS/dT?