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Calculus Level 4

0 3 3 / 2 x 3 ( 4 x 2 + 9 ) 3 d x \large\int_0^{{3\sqrt{3}} / {2}} \dfrac{x^3}{\sqrt{(4x^2+9)^3}} \, dx

If the above integral equals a b \dfrac{a}{b} , where a a and b b are coprime positive integers, find a + b a+b .


The answer is 35.

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3 solutions

Max Ranis
Feb 7, 2016

If one lets x = 3 2 tan θ x=\frac{3}{2} \tan\theta the integral simplifies to 0 π 3 3 16 × ( sin θ ) 3 ( cos θ ) 2 d θ = 0 π 3 3 16 × ( 1 ( cos θ ) 2 ) ( sin θ ) ( cos θ ) 2 d θ \displaystyle \int_{0}^{\frac{\pi}{3}} \frac{3}{16} \times \frac{(\sin \theta)^3}{(\cos \theta)^2} d\theta =\displaystyle \int_{0}^{\frac{\pi}{3}} \frac{3}{16} \times \frac{(1-(\cos \theta)^2)(\sin\theta)}{(\cos \theta)^2}d\theta . The resulting integral can be split along the minus sign in the numerator and finally solved using a u-substitution, leading to 3 32 \frac{3}{32} with a sum of 35 35 .

Austin Antonacci
Feb 8, 2016

I used the substitution u = 4 x 2 + 9 u=4{ x }^{ 2 }+9 , which gives the following integral:

1 32 9 36 u 9 u 3 2 d u = 1 32 9 36 ( u 1 2 9 u 3 2 ) d u \displaystyle \frac { 1 }{ 32 } \displaystyle \int _{ 9 }^{ 36 }{ \frac { u-9 }{ { u }^{ \frac { 3 }{ 2 } } } du } =\frac { 1 }{ 32 } \displaystyle \int _{ 9 }^{ 36 }{ \left( { u }^{ \frac { -1 }{ 2 } }-9{ u }^{ \frac { -3 }{ 2 } } \right) du }

Which evaluates to 3 32 \frac { 3 }{ 32 } with a sum of 35 35 .

To clarify, the numerator of the fraction I created with u u comes from rearranging my substitution for u u .

Jedidiah Clement
Feb 6, 2016

Use integration by parts to get the integral. Substitute the two given values to it and simplify. The answer will be 3/32. However, 32 is not a prime number, because it can be factored by other numbers excluding 1.

32 is not a prime number. So what?

Nihar Mahajan - 5 years, 4 months ago

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You said in the question that the answers are coprime positive integers, which means that they are both prime numbers. You stated it in a way that's a bit misunderstanding. 32 is not a prime number.

Jedidiah Clement - 5 years, 4 months ago

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Two numbers a , b a,b are co-prime means that the Greatest Common Divisor of a , b a,b is 1 1 . That doesn't mean a , b a,b both are prime numbers.

Nihar Mahajan - 5 years, 4 months ago

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