Q.Integrate the following function:
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Start your 14-day free trial to unlock the full solution →The integral of is solved by converting the product into a sum using the cosine difference identity, then integrating term by term. The final result is .
When you see a product of two sine functions (or sine and cosine), the direct approach — trying to guess a reverse chain rule — fails because the angles are different. The trick is to rewrite the product as a sum or difference of cosines. This is one of the Product-to-Sum identities, and it exists precisely to turn multiplication (hard to integrate) into addition (easy to integrate).
The identity we need is:
Why does this work? Because the derivative of is , and the derivative of is — so integrating a cosine is straightforward. By converting the product into a combination of cosines, each term becomes a basic integral.
Let’s apply it step by step.
- Identify and . Here, and . Plug into the identity:
- Simplify the angles inside the cosines. , and because cosine is an even function. . So:
- Set up the integral.
-
Integrate each cosine term separately.
Recall: .
So:
Therefore: …
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