Skip to content
Exercise 7.4 · Q8

Q.Integrate the following function: x2x6+a6\frac{x^2}{\sqrt{x^6+a^6}}

Karnataka PUCTextbookSubjective· 2mImportance★★★★★
Appeared in past exams:KCET 2021· Set A-1· 1mexact
28% · 103/373 Questions
🔒 Locked · start free trial →

You're viewing a preview — the full solution, concept, methods & PYQ mapping are locked.

Start your 14-day free trial to unlock the full solution →

The key idea is to rewrite the integrand so that the numerator becomes the derivative of the denominator’s inside, enabling a direct uu-substitution. The integral evaluates to 13log⁡∣x3+x6+a6∣+C\frac{1}{3} \log\left|x^3 + \sqrt{x^6 + a^6}\right| + C.

We start with the integral

∫x2x6+a6 dx.\int \frac{x^2}{\sqrt{x^6 + a^6}} \, dx.

The denominator contains x6+a6x^6 + a^6, and the numerator is x2x^2. Notice that x6=(x3)2x^6 = (x^3)^2, so the square root is (x3)2+a6\sqrt{(x^3)^2 + a^6}. This suggests that if we set u=x3u = x^3, then du=3x2 dxdu = 3x^2 \, dx, and x2 dxx^2 \, dx appears almost exactly in the numerator — we just need a factor of 33.

  1. Substitution setup

    Let u=x3u = x^3. Then du=3x2 dxdu = 3x^2 \, dx, so x2 dx=13dux^2 \, dx = \frac{1}{3} du.

    Also, x6=(x3)2=u2x^6 = (x^3)^2 = u^2, so the denominator becomes u2+a6\sqrt{u^2 + a^6}.

  2. Rewrite the integral

    Substituting, we get

∫x2x6+a6 dx=∫1u2+a6⋅13 du=13∫duu2+a6.\int \frac{x^2}{\sqrt{x^6 + a^6}} \, dx = \int \frac{1}{\sqrt{u^2 + a^6}} \cdot \frac{1}{3} \, du = \frac{1}{3} \int \frac{du}{\sqrt{u^2 + a^6}}.

  1. Recognize the standard form

    The integral ∫duu2+k2\int \frac{du}{\sqrt{u^2 + k^2}} is a standard result: it equals log⁡∣u+u2+k2∣+C\log\left| u + \sqrt{u^2 + k^2} \right| + C.

    Here k2=a6k^2 = a^6, so k=a3k = a^3 (taking the positive root, since aa is presumably real and a6a^6 is positive).

    ∫duu2+k2=log⁡∣u+u2+k2∣+C\int \frac{du}{\sqrt{u^2 + k^2}} = \log\left| u + \sqrt{u^2 + k^2} \right| + C

  2. Apply the formula

    With k=a3k = a^3, we have

13∫duu2+a6=13log⁡∣u+u2+a6∣+C.\frac{1}{3} \int \frac{du}{\sqrt{u^2 + a^6}} = \frac{1}{3} \log\left| u + \sqrt{u^2 + a^6} \right| + C.

  1. Back-substitute Replace uu with x3x^3: …

Unlock everything free for 14 days

  • Full step-by-step solutions
  • Concept-first explanations
  • Methods, shortcuts & mistakes
  • PYQ mapping + timed mock tests

Full access for 14 days. No credit card required.