Art of Problem Solving

2006 SMT/Calculus Problems/Problem 6: Difference between revisions

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==Problem 6==
Evaluate
<cmath> \int_{0}^{\pi/2}\frac{\sin^3x}{\sin^3x+\cos^3x}dx </cmath>
==Solution==
==Solution==



Latest revision as of 17:32, 14 January 2020

Problem 6

Evaluate \[\int_{0}^{\pi/2}\frac{\sin^3x}{\sin^3x+\cos^3x}dx\]

Solution

Let $u=\frac{\pi}{2}-x$ and $du=-dx$, the integral than turns into:

\[I = \int_{0}^{\pi/2}\frac{\sin^3x}{\sin^3x+\cos^3x}dx \Rightarrow -\int_{\pi/2}^{0}\frac{\sin^3(\pi/2-u)}{\sin^3(\pi/2-u)+\cos^3(\pi/2-u)}du\]

Which of course equals: \[I =-\int_{\pi/2}^{0}\frac{\sin^3(\pi/2-u)}{\sin^3(\pi/2-u)+\cos^3(\pi/2-u)}du = \int_{0}^{\pi/2}\frac{\cos^3(u)}{\cos^3(u)+\sin^3(u)}du\]

We can then add the original integral, with x as the variable, to the integral with u as a variable because the variables don't matter, just the value that the integrals takes:

\begin{align*} I+I&=\int_{0}^{\pi/2}\frac{\sin^3x}{\sin^3x+\cos^3x}dx+\int_{0}^{\pi/2}\frac{\cos^3x}{\cos^3x+\sin^3x}dx\\ 2I&=\int_{0}^{\pi/2}\frac{\sin^3x+\cos^3x}{\sin^3x+\cos^3x}dx\\ 2I&=\int_{0}^{\pi/2}1dx\\ 2I&=x\Big|_0^{\frac{\pi}{2}}\\ 2I&=\frac{\pi}{2}\\ I&=\frac{\pi}{4}\\ \end{align*}

Therefore:

\[I=\int_{0}^{\pi/2}\frac{\sin^3x}{\sin^3x+\cos^3x}dx = \boxed{\frac{\pi}{4}}\]