MATH 31B - Week 2 [email protected].

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Integrals involving Logarithms and L’Hopital Rule
Integrals involving Logarithmic Functions

We will continue our study on the calculus of logarithmic functions. Recall that the derivative of the
function y=ln x is y ' =1/ x . Therefore (paying attention to the sign of x),
1
∫ x dx=ln| x|+ C
x n+1
Recall that in Math 31A, we learnt ∫ x n dx= +C for n ≠ 1. The above formula then completes our
n+1
knowledge on antiderivatives of power functions.
By now, you should know that evaluating integral is an art, so it is instructive to look at some examples.

Example:
2 ln x
Find ∫ dx .
x
Solution:
This looks like the integral of 1/ x but there is a factor of 2 ln x there. This suggests substitution u=ln x .
With this substitution, du=1/ x dx . Therefore,
2 ln x
∫ dx=∫ 2 u du=u 2+C=( ln x )2 +C
x
Example:
x
Find ∫ 2 dx.

Solution:
Note that y=2x is an exponential function, but we only have formula for the integral of y=e x. So we
should manipulate the given function to somehow resemble e x .
x
Now, 2 x =( e ln 2 ) =e x ln2 . This suggests substitution u=x ln 2, so du=( ln 2 ) dx . Therefore,
x x ln 2 eu 1 ( u) 1 ( x ln2 ) 2x
∫ 2 dx=∫ e dx=∫
ln 2
du=
ln 2
e +C=
ln 2
e +C=
ln 2
+C

Example:
x2
Find ∫ dx .
x 3+ 10
Solution:
This doesn’t look like anything we have encountered so far. But here is a useful tip: whenever you want
to integrate a rational function, check if the numerator looks like the derivative of the denominator. If
so, use substitution u equals to the denominator. In this case, u=x3 +10 .
Then du=3 x 2 dx . Therefore,
x2
∫ x 3+ 10 dx=∫ 31u du= 13 ln |u|+C= 13 ln|x 3+ 10|+C
Problems:
3 x−1 ln ( ln x )
1. Find: (a) ∫ e2 sin x cos x dx (b) ∫ 9−2 x +3 x 2 dx (c) ∫ x ln x
dx .
4
e 4
1
2. Evaluate: (a) ∫
x ln x
dx
2
(b) ∫ 3 t+1 4 dt .
e 2

( x 3−1 ) ( x 2 +5 )
3. Using logarithmic differentiation, find the derivative of y= .
√ x−10
L’Hopital Rule

L’Hopital Rule is used to evaluate limits, in the case where the function has an indeterminate form, i.e.
0/0, ∞ /∞ , ∞−∞, 0 ⋅ ∞ , ∞ 0 , 00, or 1∞. For 0/0 or ∞ /∞ , the rule can be used directly, while for other
forms, some manipulations need to be done first. See the examples after the following statement.

(Informal Statement of L’Hopital Rule) If f ( a )=g ( a ) =0, and f and g are differentiable, then
f (x) f'(x)
lim =lim ' provided the limit on the right exists. The same conclusion also holds if
x→ a g ( x ) x →a g ( x )

lim f ( x )=± ∞ and lim g ( x )=± ∞ . This rule is also valid for one-sided limits.
x→ a x→ a

Example:
e 2 x −2 x−1
Evaluate lim .
x →0 cos x−1
Solution:
Direct substitution gives 0/0. If we apply L’Hopital rule once, we still get 0/0, so we apply L’Hopital Rule
again until (and only until!) we get something that is determinate. So,
e 2 x −2 x−1 2 e 2 x −2 4 e2 x
lim =lim =lim =−4
x →0 cos x−1 x →0 −sin x x →0 −cos x

Example:
Evaluate lim ¿.
+¿ 2
x→ 0 x ln x ¿

Solution:
Direct substitution yields 0 ⋅∞ , but note that x 2 ln x=ln x / x−2, which yields ∞ /∞ after direct
substitution and so L’Hopital rule can be used here. Note that we can apply L’Hopital rule only until we
get something that is determinate. So,
lim ¿
+¿ 2
x→ 0 x ln x= lim ¿¿
+¿ ln x
x →0 −2
= lim ¿¿
x x
−1
x → 0+ ¿ = lim ¿¿
−3
−2 x x → 0+ ¿ −1 x 2=0¿
2

Example:
Evaluate lim ¿. +¿ x
x→ 0 x ¿

Solution:
Direct substitution yields 00 . For indeterminate powers like this, always do these steps. Let y=x x. Then
take ln, so ln y=ln x x =x ln x . Now for this function, direct substitution gives ∞ /∞ . So,
lim ¿
+¿
x→ 0 ln y= +¿
lim ¿¿
x→ 0 x lnx= lim ¿¿
−1
x → 0 +¿ ( lnx ) /x = lim ¿¿
+ ¿ −1 −2
x → 0 x /−x =0¿

Now, since the function f ( x )=e x is continuous, we can exponentiate both sides and evaluate the
lim ¿
necessary limits to get: x→ 0 x =
+¿ x
lim ¿¿ .
lim ¿ e0 =1¿
+¿ ln y +¿ ln y
x→0 e =e x → 0 ¿

Problems:
4. Evaluate:
e x −1 lim ¿
(a) lim (d) 2

x →0 sin x
+¿ 2/x
x→ 0 ( cos x ) ¿
2

(e) t → 0 lim
1/ x
(b) lim x +¿
( sin t )( ln t ) ¿
¿
x→ ∞

1 n −x
(c) lim cot x−
x →0
( x ) (f) lim x e , for any natural numbers n ≥ 1.
x→ ∞