HP Forums

I think it should have cancelled the outer 'a' with the inner denominators.

MathJax version for posterity:

\[ \int\frac{a}{{(a^2+x^2)}^2}dx \to a* \left(\frac{x}{2*a^2*(a^2+x^2)}+\frac{\mathsf{ATAN}(\frac{x}{a})}{2*a^3}\right) \]

There is no simplification on the output, and a is factored out during integration.

Yes, I see the 'a' is factored out as an independent variable early on. Is there some magic method to simplify the result further? The 'simplify' function arguably makes it worse. (It puts everything under a common denominator, which is good, but still does not cancel an 'a' common to the numerator and denominator.)

EDIT: Actually, I notice there isn't in fact a common 'a' in the numerator and denominator after using 'simplify', although the result is kind of messy so it took me a while to spot my mistake:

\[\frac{a^2*\mathsf{ATAN}\left(\frac{x}{a}\right)+a*x+
x^2*\mathsf{ATAN}\left(\frac{x}{a}\right)}{2*a^4+2*a^2*x^2}\]

I suppose I can't begrudge the CAS considering that simpler by the rules it is following (putting things under a common denominator where possible), although to my aging eyes and addled brain it looks more complicated!

Hi ijabbott,

Try using the Partial Fractions command. I believe it accomplishes what you are aiming for.

(11-02-2018 10:39 PM)Carsen Wrote: [ -> ]Hi ijabbott,

Try using the Partial Fractions command. I believe it accomplishes what you are aiming for.

Nearly. It produces a complex fraction:

\[\frac{\mathsf{ATAN}\left(\frac{x}{a}\right)}{2*a^2}+\frac{\frac{x}{2*a}}{a^2+x^2​}\]

Using 'expand' on that produces:

\[\frac{\frac{1}{2}*x}{a*(a^2+x^2)}+\frac{\frac{1}{2}*\mathsf{ATAN}\left(\frac{x}{​a}\right)}{a^2}\]

Which is pretty close to what I was expecting, although the 2s in \(\frac{1}{2}\) could be moved to the bottom.