Math 112 Topic 2 Powers of Sines and Cosines
Math 112 Topic 2 Powers of Sines and Cosines
Math 112 Topic 2 Powers of Sines and Cosines
We now consider the problem of integrating the powers of sine or cosine or the product of
such powers. In general, we shall integrate a trigonometric integral of the form
𝑠𝑖𝑛2 𝑥
∫ 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑥𝑐𝑜𝑠𝑥𝑑𝑥 = +𝐶
2
𝑐𝑜𝑠 4 𝑥
∫ 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑥𝑐𝑜𝑠 3 𝑥𝑑𝑥 = − +𝐶
4
4
𝑠𝑖𝑛5 𝑥
∫ 𝑠𝑖𝑛 𝑥𝑐𝑜𝑠𝑥𝑑𝑥 = +𝐶
5
3
2𝑐𝑜𝑠 2 𝑥
∫ 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑥 √𝑐𝑜𝑠𝑥𝑑𝑥 = − +𝐶
3
In this section, we shall deal with integrals of the general form given above but with m, n
≠ 1. Consider the following cases:
Case I. when m is a positive odd integer and n is any number, we may write
Since m is odd, then the m-1 is even and therefore we may use the trigonometric identity
sin2v = 1- cos2v
m-1
to express sin sin v in terms of the powers of cosv. Then, the given integral is reduced
to the form
∫(𝒔𝒖𝒎 𝒐𝒇 𝒑𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒄𝒐𝒔𝒗)𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒗𝒅𝒙
which can now be evaluated by use of Formula I4 by letting u = cosv.
Solution:
∫ 𝒔𝒊𝒏𝟑 𝟒𝒙𝒄𝒐𝒔𝟐𝟒𝒙𝒅𝒙 = (𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒎−𝟏 𝒗 𝒄𝒐𝒔𝒏 𝒗) 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐯
where v = 4x,
∫ 𝒔𝒊𝒏𝟑 𝟒𝒙𝒄𝒐𝒔𝟐𝟒𝒙𝒅𝒙 = ∫(𝒔𝒊𝒏𝟑−𝟏𝟒𝒙𝒄𝒐𝒔𝟐 𝟒𝒙)𝒔𝒊𝒏𝟒𝒙𝒅𝒙
𝒄𝒐𝒔𝟑 𝟒𝒙 𝒄𝒐𝒔𝟓 𝟒𝒙
=− + +𝑪 Ans.
𝟏𝟐 𝟐𝟎
Case II. When m is any number and n is a positive odd, we may write
sinmv cosnv = (sinmcosn-1v) cosv
and then use the identity
cos2v = 1- sin2v
to reduce the integral to the form
1−2𝑐𝑜𝑠2𝑥+𝑐𝑜𝑠 2 2𝑥
= ∫( ) 𝑑𝑥
4
1
= ∫(1 − 2𝑐𝑜𝑠2𝑥 + 𝑐𝑜𝑠2 2𝑥)𝑑𝑥
4
1 1+𝑐𝑜𝑠4𝑥
= 4 ∫ (1 − 2𝑐𝑜𝑠2𝑥 + ) 𝑑𝑥 using the identity of cos2x time 2
2
1 1+𝑐𝑜𝑠4𝑥 1+𝑐𝑜𝑠4𝑥
= 4 ∫ (−2𝑐𝑜𝑠2𝑥 + 1 + ) 𝑑𝑥 reorder the terms and get the lcd of 1 +
2 2
1 2 + 1 + 𝑐𝑜𝑠4𝑥
= ∫ (−2𝑐𝑜𝑠2𝑥 + ) 𝑑𝑥
4 2
1 3 + 𝑐𝑜𝑠4𝑥
= ∫ (−2𝑐𝑜𝑠2𝑥 + ) 𝑑𝑥
4 2
1 3 𝑐𝑜𝑠4𝑥
= 4 ∫ (−2𝑐𝑜𝑠2𝑥 + 2 + ) 𝑑𝑥 reorder the terms again
2
1 3 1
= 4 ∫ (2 − 2𝑐𝑜𝑠2𝑥 + 2 𝑐𝑜𝑠4𝑥) 𝑑𝑥 integrate each term
1 3 1
=4 ∫ 2 𝑑𝑥 − ∫ 2𝑐𝑜𝑠2𝑥 𝑑𝑥 + ∫ 2 𝑐𝑜𝑠4𝑥𝑑𝑥
1 3 1
=4 [2 ∫ 𝑑𝑥 − 2 ∫ 𝑐𝑜𝑠2𝑥 𝑑𝑥 + 2 ∫ 𝑐𝑜𝑠4𝑥𝑑𝑥]
1 3𝑥 𝑠𝑖𝑛2𝑥 1 sin 4𝑥
= [ − 2( ) + 2 ( 4 )] + 𝐶
4 2 2
1 3𝑥 𝑠𝑖𝑛4𝑥
= [ − 𝑠𝑖𝑛2𝑥 + ]+𝐶
4 2 8
𝟑𝒙 𝒔𝒊𝒏𝟐𝒙 𝒔𝒊𝒏𝟒𝒙
=
𝟖
−
𝟒
+ 𝟑𝟐
+𝑪 Ans.