Integration by Trigonometric Substitution

Do yourself a favor and watch the videos in order! In the first two we'll practice the two tricky parts of these uber-tricky problems, so that in the third video we have a prayer of actually getting one right!

Trig Substitution (Step 1): choosing what to sub

The first step of trigonometric substitution problems is the trickiest: figuring out a trig function with which to replace a perfectly good x. In this video I show the hows and whys, and most importantly the hows, of this super tricky first step.

Trig Substitution (Step 2): how to un-substitute theta for x

After taking out a perfectly good x and replacing it with a yucky trig function of Theta, at some point you're going to have to un-scramble that egg and turn things back into x's. This video is all about how to do that, and in style.

Trig Substitution Examples

If you haven't watched the prior two videos, you should definitely do that first, 'cause we're going to be going pretty fast here. In this video we'll just put it all together and actually solve problems from start to finish, amazing ourselves by getting correct answers.