Q.Integrate the following function: sinxsin2xsin3x
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🔒 Start your 14-day free trial to unlock the full solution →Concept understanding — Product To Sum Identity
Why turn a product into a sum?
Products of trig functions are messy — they don't integrate nicely and are hard to simplify. Sums are clean: you can separate and integrate them term-by-term. The Product-to-Sum identities convert a product of sines and cosines into a sum (or difference), turning something like sin3xcos5x into 21[sin8x+sin(−2x)].
The core idea in one sentence
Any product of two sines and/or cosines can be rewritten as half the sum (or difference) of two sine/cosine functions whose arguments are the sum and difference of the original angles.
The four identities
For any two angles A and B:
sinAcosBcosAsinBcosAcosBsinAsinB=21[sin(A+B)+sin(A−B)]=21[sin(A+B)−sin(A−B)]=21[cos(A+B)+cos(A−B)]=21[cos(A−B)−cos(A+B)]
The pattern:
- Same functions (coscos or sinsin) → result uses cosines.
- Different functions (sincos or cossin) → result uses sines.
- The sinsin case has a minus before cos(A+B) — the one that trips people up.
Where they come from (the derivation)
They follow directly from the sum and difference formulas:
sin(A+B)sin(A−B)cos(A+B)cos(A−B)=sinAcosB+cosAsinB=sinAcosB−cosAsinB=cosAcosB−sinAsinB=cosAcosB+sinAsinB
Add the first two: sin(A+B)+sin(A−B)=2sinAcosB. Divide by 2 → the first identity. Subtract them → the second. Add/subtract the cosine formulas → the other two.
If you forget an identity, derive it in 10 seconds from the sum/difference formulas.
Worked examples
Simplify sin5xcos2x. With A=5x, B=2x (first identity):
sin5xcos2x=21[sin7x+sin3x]
Simplify sin4xsinx. With A=4x, B=x (fourth identity):
sin4xsinx=21[cos3x−cos5x]
The sinsin identity has a minus between the two cosines, with cos(A−B) first. Writing 21[cos(A+B)−cos(A−B)] is wrong.
--- …
Reduce the triple product to a sum using product-to-sum twice.
First sinxsin2x=21[cosx−cos3x], so
sinxsin2xsin3x=21[cosxsin3x−cos3xsin3x].
Now cosxsin3x=21[sin4x+sin2x] and cos3xsin3x=21sin6x, giving
=41[sin4x+sin2x−sin6x].
Integrate term by term: …
Two product-to-sum steps give sinxsin2xsin3x=41(sin4x+sin2x−sin6x), and integrating gives −161cos4x−81cos2x+241cos6x+C.
Plan
A product of three sines can't be integrated as is, so peel it into a sum by applying product-to-sum identities twice.
Step 1: pair two factors
sinxsin2x=21[cos(x−2x)−cos(x+2x)]=21[cosx−cos3x]
(using cos(−x)=cosx). So
sinxsin2xsin3x=21(cosx−cos3x)sin3x=21[cosxsin3x−cos3xsin3x].
Step 2: expand each product
cosxsin3x=21[sin(3x+x)−sin(x−3x)]=21[sin4x+sin2x] (since sin(−2x)=−sin2x), and cos3xsin3x=21sin6x. Hence …
Method: Product-to-sum applied twice for a triple sine product
A product of three sines integrates only after being turned into a sum. Reduce two factors first, distribute the third, reduce again, then integrate each single-angle term.
Steps
Step 1: Combine two of the sines.
sinAsinB=21[cos(A−B)−cos(A+B)]
For example sinxsin2x=21[cosx−cos3x].
Step 2: Multiply by the third factor and reduce once more. …
Common Mistakes
Mistake 1: Using the wrong sign or order in the sinsin identity.
Why it's wrong: the correct form is sinAsinB=21[cos(A−B)−cos(A+B)] — cos(A−B) first, then a minus. Swapping them flips signs on the final cosines. Correct approach: apply the identity exactly as stated at each of the two reduction steps.
Mistake 2: Attempting to integrate the triple product directly. …
- KCET 2025Set A-11 markMCQQ.If cosx+cos2x=1, then the value of sin2x+sin4x is (A) −1 (B) 1 (C) 0 (D) 2
›Reveal solutionSolution
The condition forces sin2x=cosx; substituting turns sin2x+sin4x back into the given expression cosx+cos2x=1.
Step 1 — Rearrange the given condition.
We are given
cosx+cos2x=1.
Isolate cosx:
cosx=1−cos2x.
Step 2 — The concept: use the Pythagorean identity.
The fundamental identity sin2x+cos2x=1 rearranges to
1−cos2x=sin2x.
The right-hand side of Step 1 is exactly this. So the given condition is equivalent to the elegant relation
cosx=sin2x.
This is the whole trick — the condition secretly says "cosx is sin2x", which lets us swap one for the other.
Step 3 — Rewrite the required expression in terms of sin2x.
sin2x+sin4x=sin2x+(sin2x)2.
Step 4 — Substitute sin2x=cosx.
sin2x+(sin2x)2=cosx+(cosx)2=cosx+cos2x.
Step 5 — Recognise the given condition and finish.
But cosx+cos2x=1 is precisely what we were told. Therefore
sin2x+sin4x=1.
Step 6 — Numerical sanity check. …
- KCET 2023Set A-21 markMCQQ.If limx→0xsin(2+x)−sin(2−x)=AcosB, then the values of A and B respectively are (A) 1,2 (B) 2,1 (C) 1,1 (D) 2,2
›Reveal solutionSolution
The limit is a derivative in disguise — it equals 2cos2, so A=2 and B=2.
The core idea here is that the given limit looks exactly like the definition of a derivative, but with a symmetric difference. Instead of blindly applying L'Hôpital's rule, recognise that
limx→0xf(2+x)−f(2−x)
is a standard form for 2f′(2), provided f is differentiable. Here f(t)=sint, so f′(t)=cost. That gives the answer almost instantly.
Let’s walk through it carefully.
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Identify the function.
Let f(t)=sint. Then the numerator is f(2+x)−f(2−x).
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Rewrite the limit in derivative form.
The derivative of f at t=2 is
f′(2)=limh→0hf(2+h)−f(2).
But our limit uses f(2−x) instead of f(2). Notice that
xf(2+x)−f(2−x)=xf(2+x)−f(2)+f(2)−f(2−x).
Split it:
=xf(2+x)−f(2)+xf(2)−f(2−x).
The second term can be rewritten by letting h=−x:
xf(2)−f(2−x)=−xf(2−x)−f(2)=hf(2+h)−f(2),
where h=−x. As x→0, h→0 as well. So both terms approach f′(2).
- Combine the two pieces. Hence
limx→0xf(2+x)−f(2−x)=f′(2)+f′(2)=2f′(2).
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Compute f′(2).
Since f(t)=sint, f′(t)=cost, so f′(2)=cos2.
-
Match to the given form. …
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- KCET 2024Set A-11 markMCQQ.If △ABC is right angled at C, then the value of tanA+tanB is (A) a+b (B) bca2 (C) abc2 (D) acb2
›Reveal solutionSolution
In a right triangle with the right angle at C, angles A and B are complementary, so tanA+tanB=cosAsinA+cosBsinB simplifies to abc2 using side relations.
The key insight is that in a right triangle, the two acute angles add up to 90∘. That means A+B=90∘, so B=90∘−A. This immediately tells us tanB=cotA, because tan(90∘−A)=cotA. So the sum tanA+tanB becomes tanA+cotA.
But the options are given in terms of side lengths a, b, c — where by standard convention, side a is opposite A, side b opposite B, and side c opposite C (the hypotenuse, since C=90∘). So we need to express tanA+cotA in terms of these sides.
Let’s work through it step by step.
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Set up the triangle.
Right angle at C means c is the hypotenuse. So AB=c, BC=a (opposite A), and AC=b (opposite B).
From the definitions:
tanA=adjacent to Aopposite to A=ba
tanB=adjacent to Bopposite to B=ab
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Add them directly.
tanA+tanB=ba+ab=aba2+b2
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Use the Pythagorean theorem.
Since the triangle is right-angled at C, we have a2+b2=c2. …
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