Integrating $int sec xdx$: Why is $ln|text{sec}x + text{tan}x| + C$ preferred over $tanh^{-1}(sin x) + C$?












2












$begingroup$


I was trying to integrate $sec^3x$ and discovered that I would have to integrate $sec x$ in the process. I had not seen the "standard" approach and came up with my own solution, which is apparently quite different:
$$int sec xdx = int frac{dx}{cos x}$$
I substituted $u = sin x$ so that $dx = frac{du}{cos x}$. Then
$$int frac{dx}{cos x} = int frac{du}{cos^2x} = int frac{du}{1 - sin^2x} = int frac{du}{1 - u^2}$$
The solution to this is $tanh^{-1}u + C$. Since $u = sin x$, this means that
$$int sec xdx = tanh^{-1}(sin x) + C tag{1}$$



After looking it up, I found out that the standard form of the integral is $$intsec x dx = ln|text{sec}x + text{tan}x| + C tag{2}$$



I couldn't find anything about the alternate form $(1)$ which is, as far as I can tell, equivalent to $(2)$. So, did I make a mistake here? If not, is there a reason to prefer the usual form $(2)$?










share|cite|improve this question











$endgroup$












  • $begingroup$
    You might be interested in reading about the Gudermannian function (see here also). See this 8 October 2009 sci.math post and these notes for connections with the integral of secant.
    $endgroup$
    – Dave L. Renfro
    Dec 9 '18 at 20:38










  • $begingroup$
    See also matheducators.stackexchange.com/questions/14631/…
    $endgroup$
    – J.G.
    Dec 9 '18 at 22:47










  • $begingroup$
    No mistake, you've just come across on of the many amazing relationships that exist between our elementary (and non-elementary) functions. No one form is better or worse than the other. Depending upon the situation they each have their advantages.
    $endgroup$
    – DavidG
    Dec 10 '18 at 1:20
















2












$begingroup$


I was trying to integrate $sec^3x$ and discovered that I would have to integrate $sec x$ in the process. I had not seen the "standard" approach and came up with my own solution, which is apparently quite different:
$$int sec xdx = int frac{dx}{cos x}$$
I substituted $u = sin x$ so that $dx = frac{du}{cos x}$. Then
$$int frac{dx}{cos x} = int frac{du}{cos^2x} = int frac{du}{1 - sin^2x} = int frac{du}{1 - u^2}$$
The solution to this is $tanh^{-1}u + C$. Since $u = sin x$, this means that
$$int sec xdx = tanh^{-1}(sin x) + C tag{1}$$



After looking it up, I found out that the standard form of the integral is $$intsec x dx = ln|text{sec}x + text{tan}x| + C tag{2}$$



I couldn't find anything about the alternate form $(1)$ which is, as far as I can tell, equivalent to $(2)$. So, did I make a mistake here? If not, is there a reason to prefer the usual form $(2)$?










share|cite|improve this question











$endgroup$












  • $begingroup$
    You might be interested in reading about the Gudermannian function (see here also). See this 8 October 2009 sci.math post and these notes for connections with the integral of secant.
    $endgroup$
    – Dave L. Renfro
    Dec 9 '18 at 20:38










  • $begingroup$
    See also matheducators.stackexchange.com/questions/14631/…
    $endgroup$
    – J.G.
    Dec 9 '18 at 22:47










  • $begingroup$
    No mistake, you've just come across on of the many amazing relationships that exist between our elementary (and non-elementary) functions. No one form is better or worse than the other. Depending upon the situation they each have their advantages.
    $endgroup$
    – DavidG
    Dec 10 '18 at 1:20














2












2








2





$begingroup$


I was trying to integrate $sec^3x$ and discovered that I would have to integrate $sec x$ in the process. I had not seen the "standard" approach and came up with my own solution, which is apparently quite different:
$$int sec xdx = int frac{dx}{cos x}$$
I substituted $u = sin x$ so that $dx = frac{du}{cos x}$. Then
$$int frac{dx}{cos x} = int frac{du}{cos^2x} = int frac{du}{1 - sin^2x} = int frac{du}{1 - u^2}$$
The solution to this is $tanh^{-1}u + C$. Since $u = sin x$, this means that
$$int sec xdx = tanh^{-1}(sin x) + C tag{1}$$



After looking it up, I found out that the standard form of the integral is $$intsec x dx = ln|text{sec}x + text{tan}x| + C tag{2}$$



I couldn't find anything about the alternate form $(1)$ which is, as far as I can tell, equivalent to $(2)$. So, did I make a mistake here? If not, is there a reason to prefer the usual form $(2)$?










share|cite|improve this question











$endgroup$




I was trying to integrate $sec^3x$ and discovered that I would have to integrate $sec x$ in the process. I had not seen the "standard" approach and came up with my own solution, which is apparently quite different:
$$int sec xdx = int frac{dx}{cos x}$$
I substituted $u = sin x$ so that $dx = frac{du}{cos x}$. Then
$$int frac{dx}{cos x} = int frac{du}{cos^2x} = int frac{du}{1 - sin^2x} = int frac{du}{1 - u^2}$$
The solution to this is $tanh^{-1}u + C$. Since $u = sin x$, this means that
$$int sec xdx = tanh^{-1}(sin x) + C tag{1}$$



After looking it up, I found out that the standard form of the integral is $$intsec x dx = ln|text{sec}x + text{tan}x| + C tag{2}$$



I couldn't find anything about the alternate form $(1)$ which is, as far as I can tell, equivalent to $(2)$. So, did I make a mistake here? If not, is there a reason to prefer the usual form $(2)$?







calculus trigonometry soft-question indefinite-integrals trigonometric-integrals






share|cite|improve this question















share|cite|improve this question













share|cite|improve this question




share|cite|improve this question








edited Dec 10 '18 at 0:06









Batominovski

33.1k33293




33.1k33293










asked Dec 9 '18 at 19:32









CyborgOctopusCyborgOctopus

1206




1206












  • $begingroup$
    You might be interested in reading about the Gudermannian function (see here also). See this 8 October 2009 sci.math post and these notes for connections with the integral of secant.
    $endgroup$
    – Dave L. Renfro
    Dec 9 '18 at 20:38










  • $begingroup$
    See also matheducators.stackexchange.com/questions/14631/…
    $endgroup$
    – J.G.
    Dec 9 '18 at 22:47










  • $begingroup$
    No mistake, you've just come across on of the many amazing relationships that exist between our elementary (and non-elementary) functions. No one form is better or worse than the other. Depending upon the situation they each have their advantages.
    $endgroup$
    – DavidG
    Dec 10 '18 at 1:20


















  • $begingroup$
    You might be interested in reading about the Gudermannian function (see here also). See this 8 October 2009 sci.math post and these notes for connections with the integral of secant.
    $endgroup$
    – Dave L. Renfro
    Dec 9 '18 at 20:38










  • $begingroup$
    See also matheducators.stackexchange.com/questions/14631/…
    $endgroup$
    – J.G.
    Dec 9 '18 at 22:47










  • $begingroup$
    No mistake, you've just come across on of the many amazing relationships that exist between our elementary (and non-elementary) functions. No one form is better or worse than the other. Depending upon the situation they each have their advantages.
    $endgroup$
    – DavidG
    Dec 10 '18 at 1:20
















$begingroup$
You might be interested in reading about the Gudermannian function (see here also). See this 8 October 2009 sci.math post and these notes for connections with the integral of secant.
$endgroup$
– Dave L. Renfro
Dec 9 '18 at 20:38




$begingroup$
You might be interested in reading about the Gudermannian function (see here also). See this 8 October 2009 sci.math post and these notes for connections with the integral of secant.
$endgroup$
– Dave L. Renfro
Dec 9 '18 at 20:38












$begingroup$
See also matheducators.stackexchange.com/questions/14631/…
$endgroup$
– J.G.
Dec 9 '18 at 22:47




$begingroup$
See also matheducators.stackexchange.com/questions/14631/…
$endgroup$
– J.G.
Dec 9 '18 at 22:47












$begingroup$
No mistake, you've just come across on of the many amazing relationships that exist between our elementary (and non-elementary) functions. No one form is better or worse than the other. Depending upon the situation they each have their advantages.
$endgroup$
– DavidG
Dec 10 '18 at 1:20




$begingroup$
No mistake, you've just come across on of the many amazing relationships that exist between our elementary (and non-elementary) functions. No one form is better or worse than the other. Depending upon the situation they each have their advantages.
$endgroup$
– DavidG
Dec 10 '18 at 1:20










2 Answers
2






active

oldest

votes


















3












$begingroup$

$$begin{align}
tanh^{-1}(sin x) &=frac12lnleft|frac{1+sin x}{1-sin x}cdot frac{1/cos x}{1/cos x}right|\[4pt]
&=frac12lnleft|frac{sec x+tan x}{sec x-tan x}right| \[4pt]
&=frac12lnleft|frac{sec x+tan x}{sec x-tan x}cdotfrac{sec x+tan x}{sec x+tan x}right|\[4pt]
&=phantom{frac12}lnleft|sec x+tan xright|
end{align}$$



I believe most introductory calculus books use the equivalent form because their readers are not aware of hyperbolic trigonometric functions or their inverses.






share|cite|improve this answer











$endgroup$





















    0












    $begingroup$

    I was taught to calculate $;int (sec x) dx;$ via the substitution $;u = tan(x/2).;$ As the other answer suggested, in math, you don't want to use a steamroller when a flyswatter will do. Problems involving $;int (sec x) dx;$ (for example $;int (sec x)^3 dx);$ can be solved in a straightforward (if somewhat arduous) manner without using hyperbolic functions.



    The convention is to avoid advanced topics (e.g. hyperbolic functions), unless the problem requires it.






    share|cite|improve this answer









    $endgroup$













      Your Answer





      StackExchange.ifUsing("editor", function () {
      return StackExchange.using("mathjaxEditing", function () {
      StackExchange.MarkdownEditor.creationCallbacks.add(function (editor, postfix) {
      StackExchange.mathjaxEditing.prepareWmdForMathJax(editor, postfix, [["$", "$"], ["\\(","\\)"]]);
      });
      });
      }, "mathjax-editing");

      StackExchange.ready(function() {
      var channelOptions = {
      tags: "".split(" "),
      id: "69"
      };
      initTagRenderer("".split(" "), "".split(" "), channelOptions);

      StackExchange.using("externalEditor", function() {
      // Have to fire editor after snippets, if snippets enabled
      if (StackExchange.settings.snippets.snippetsEnabled) {
      StackExchange.using("snippets", function() {
      createEditor();
      });
      }
      else {
      createEditor();
      }
      });

      function createEditor() {
      StackExchange.prepareEditor({
      heartbeatType: 'answer',
      autoActivateHeartbeat: false,
      convertImagesToLinks: true,
      noModals: true,
      showLowRepImageUploadWarning: true,
      reputationToPostImages: 10,
      bindNavPrevention: true,
      postfix: "",
      imageUploader: {
      brandingHtml: "Powered by u003ca class="icon-imgur-white" href="https://imgur.com/"u003eu003c/au003e",
      contentPolicyHtml: "User contributions licensed under u003ca href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/"u003ecc by-sa 3.0 with attribution requiredu003c/au003e u003ca href="https://stackoverflow.com/legal/content-policy"u003e(content policy)u003c/au003e",
      allowUrls: true
      },
      noCode: true, onDemand: true,
      discardSelector: ".discard-answer"
      ,immediatelyShowMarkdownHelp:true
      });


      }
      });














      draft saved

      draft discarded


















      StackExchange.ready(
      function () {
      StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fmath.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f3032849%2fintegrating-int-sec-xdx-why-is-ln-textsecx-texttanx-c-preferr%23new-answer', 'question_page');
      }
      );

      Post as a guest















      Required, but never shown

























      2 Answers
      2






      active

      oldest

      votes








      2 Answers
      2






      active

      oldest

      votes









      active

      oldest

      votes






      active

      oldest

      votes









      3












      $begingroup$

      $$begin{align}
      tanh^{-1}(sin x) &=frac12lnleft|frac{1+sin x}{1-sin x}cdot frac{1/cos x}{1/cos x}right|\[4pt]
      &=frac12lnleft|frac{sec x+tan x}{sec x-tan x}right| \[4pt]
      &=frac12lnleft|frac{sec x+tan x}{sec x-tan x}cdotfrac{sec x+tan x}{sec x+tan x}right|\[4pt]
      &=phantom{frac12}lnleft|sec x+tan xright|
      end{align}$$



      I believe most introductory calculus books use the equivalent form because their readers are not aware of hyperbolic trigonometric functions or their inverses.






      share|cite|improve this answer











      $endgroup$


















        3












        $begingroup$

        $$begin{align}
        tanh^{-1}(sin x) &=frac12lnleft|frac{1+sin x}{1-sin x}cdot frac{1/cos x}{1/cos x}right|\[4pt]
        &=frac12lnleft|frac{sec x+tan x}{sec x-tan x}right| \[4pt]
        &=frac12lnleft|frac{sec x+tan x}{sec x-tan x}cdotfrac{sec x+tan x}{sec x+tan x}right|\[4pt]
        &=phantom{frac12}lnleft|sec x+tan xright|
        end{align}$$



        I believe most introductory calculus books use the equivalent form because their readers are not aware of hyperbolic trigonometric functions or their inverses.






        share|cite|improve this answer











        $endgroup$
















          3












          3








          3





          $begingroup$

          $$begin{align}
          tanh^{-1}(sin x) &=frac12lnleft|frac{1+sin x}{1-sin x}cdot frac{1/cos x}{1/cos x}right|\[4pt]
          &=frac12lnleft|frac{sec x+tan x}{sec x-tan x}right| \[4pt]
          &=frac12lnleft|frac{sec x+tan x}{sec x-tan x}cdotfrac{sec x+tan x}{sec x+tan x}right|\[4pt]
          &=phantom{frac12}lnleft|sec x+tan xright|
          end{align}$$



          I believe most introductory calculus books use the equivalent form because their readers are not aware of hyperbolic trigonometric functions or their inverses.






          share|cite|improve this answer











          $endgroup$



          $$begin{align}
          tanh^{-1}(sin x) &=frac12lnleft|frac{1+sin x}{1-sin x}cdot frac{1/cos x}{1/cos x}right|\[4pt]
          &=frac12lnleft|frac{sec x+tan x}{sec x-tan x}right| \[4pt]
          &=frac12lnleft|frac{sec x+tan x}{sec x-tan x}cdotfrac{sec x+tan x}{sec x+tan x}right|\[4pt]
          &=phantom{frac12}lnleft|sec x+tan xright|
          end{align}$$



          I believe most introductory calculus books use the equivalent form because their readers are not aware of hyperbolic trigonometric functions or their inverses.







          share|cite|improve this answer














          share|cite|improve this answer



          share|cite|improve this answer








          edited Dec 9 '18 at 20:01









          Blue

          49.1k870156




          49.1k870156










          answered Dec 9 '18 at 19:42









          Shubham JohriShubham Johri

          5,347718




          5,347718























              0












              $begingroup$

              I was taught to calculate $;int (sec x) dx;$ via the substitution $;u = tan(x/2).;$ As the other answer suggested, in math, you don't want to use a steamroller when a flyswatter will do. Problems involving $;int (sec x) dx;$ (for example $;int (sec x)^3 dx);$ can be solved in a straightforward (if somewhat arduous) manner without using hyperbolic functions.



              The convention is to avoid advanced topics (e.g. hyperbolic functions), unless the problem requires it.






              share|cite|improve this answer









              $endgroup$


















                0












                $begingroup$

                I was taught to calculate $;int (sec x) dx;$ via the substitution $;u = tan(x/2).;$ As the other answer suggested, in math, you don't want to use a steamroller when a flyswatter will do. Problems involving $;int (sec x) dx;$ (for example $;int (sec x)^3 dx);$ can be solved in a straightforward (if somewhat arduous) manner without using hyperbolic functions.



                The convention is to avoid advanced topics (e.g. hyperbolic functions), unless the problem requires it.






                share|cite|improve this answer









                $endgroup$
















                  0












                  0








                  0





                  $begingroup$

                  I was taught to calculate $;int (sec x) dx;$ via the substitution $;u = tan(x/2).;$ As the other answer suggested, in math, you don't want to use a steamroller when a flyswatter will do. Problems involving $;int (sec x) dx;$ (for example $;int (sec x)^3 dx);$ can be solved in a straightforward (if somewhat arduous) manner without using hyperbolic functions.



                  The convention is to avoid advanced topics (e.g. hyperbolic functions), unless the problem requires it.






                  share|cite|improve this answer









                  $endgroup$



                  I was taught to calculate $;int (sec x) dx;$ via the substitution $;u = tan(x/2).;$ As the other answer suggested, in math, you don't want to use a steamroller when a flyswatter will do. Problems involving $;int (sec x) dx;$ (for example $;int (sec x)^3 dx);$ can be solved in a straightforward (if somewhat arduous) manner without using hyperbolic functions.



                  The convention is to avoid advanced topics (e.g. hyperbolic functions), unless the problem requires it.







                  share|cite|improve this answer












                  share|cite|improve this answer



                  share|cite|improve this answer










                  answered Dec 9 '18 at 22:43









                  user2661923user2661923

                  558112




                  558112






























                      draft saved

                      draft discarded




















































                      Thanks for contributing an answer to Mathematics Stack Exchange!


                      • Please be sure to answer the question. Provide details and share your research!

                      But avoid



                      • Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers.

                      • Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience.


                      Use MathJax to format equations. MathJax reference.


                      To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers.




                      draft saved


                      draft discarded














                      StackExchange.ready(
                      function () {
                      StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fmath.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f3032849%2fintegrating-int-sec-xdx-why-is-ln-textsecx-texttanx-c-preferr%23new-answer', 'question_page');
                      }
                      );

                      Post as a guest















                      Required, but never shown





















































                      Required, but never shown














                      Required, but never shown












                      Required, but never shown







                      Required, but never shown

































                      Required, but never shown














                      Required, but never shown












                      Required, but never shown







                      Required, but never shown







                      Popular posts from this blog

                      How to change which sound is reproduced for terminal bell?

                      Title Spacing in Bjornstrup Chapter, Removing Chapter Number From Contents

                      Can I use Tabulator js library in my java Spring + Thymeleaf project?