I was thinking about the Integral Rules and trying to understand why they work. It seems to me like all Integral Rules should have a Derivative Rule counterpart:
- U Substitution: Chain Rule. The chain rule says: $\frac d{dx}f(g(x)) = f'(g(x))\times g'(x)$ and U Sub removes a function and its derivative from the integral:$\int g'(x)f'(g(x))dx = \int f'(u)du$
- Integration by Parts: Product/Quotient Rule. Example: $\int x \arctan{x}dx$. Thinking using product rule, it can be seen that $\frac d{dx}\left(\frac12x^2 \arctan x\right)$ $=$ $\displaystyle x \arctan x + \frac x{2(1+x^2)}$. So $\int x \arctan x dx = \int \left(x \arctan x + \frac x{2(1+x^2)}\right)dx - \int \frac x{2(1+x^2)}dx = \frac12x^2\arctan x - \int \frac x{2(1+x^2)}dx$ which is the rule for Integration by Parts.
- Partial Fractions: Not really any derivative rule here; this is basically manipulating the function with algebra to make it easier to integrate.
- Trig Substitution: ?
What Derivative rule matches up with Trig Substitution? Why does Trig Substitution work?
It's easy to see how the first two methods were invented. How was Trig Substitution invented?