How do you use partial fraction decomposition to decompose the fraction to integrate x/(x^2+4x+13)xx2+4x+13?

1 Answer
Jun 24, 2015

This function should not be integrated with partial fractions, but with a substitution (after completing the square in the denominator). The final answer is int x/(x^2+4x+13)\ dx

=1/2 ln(x^2+4x+13)-2/3 arctan((x+2)/3)+C

Explanation:

The denominator cannot be factored without resorting to complex numbers, so we complete the square in the denominator instead.

Completing the square for the denominator x^2+4x+13 can be done by taking the coefficient 4 of x, dividing it by 2 and squaring that to get 4, and then writing the denominator as x^2+4x+4+13-4=(x^2+4x+4)+9=(x+2)^2+9.

The integral can therefore be written as \int x/(x^2+4x+13)\ dx=\int x/((x+2)^2+9)\ dx.

Now let u=x+2 so that x=u-2 and dx=du to write

\int x/((x+2)^2+9)\ dx=\int u/(u^2+9)\ du-\int 2/(u^2+9)\ du

The first of these integrals can be done by inspection to see that \int u/(u^2+9)\ du=1/2 ln|u^2+9|+C=1/2 ln(x^2+4x+13)+C (you could also do another substitution w=u^2+9, dw=2u\ du, and u\ du = 1/2 dw to help you do this). Note also that x^2+4x+13=(x+2)^2+9>0 for all x\in RR.

The second integral can be done by a bit of tricky algebra, motivated by the fact that \int 1/(1+x^2)\ dx=arctan(x)+C. Here's the algebra:

\int 2/(u^2+9)\ du=2/9 \int 1/(1+(u/3)^2)\ du=2/3 arctan(u/3)+C

=2/3 arctan((x+2)/3)+C (you could also do another substitution w=u/3, du=3dw to help you do this). Note at the end that we have replaced u by x+2.

Hence, after combining the integration constants into just one, the final answer is

int x/(x^2+4x+13)\ dx

=1/2 ln(x^2+4x+13)-2/3 arctan((x+2)/3)+C