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Exercise 386Calculus › Single-variable calculus › Integration › Integration techniquesL1Added 2 Nov 2026

Integration by substitution

#substitution#change of variable

Statement

Compute ∫01t1+t4 dt\displaystyle\int_0^1\frac t{1+t^4}\,dt and ∫04tet2 dt\displaystyle\int_0^4te^{t^2}\,dt.

Hint

In both cases try u=t2u=t^2, so that du=2t dtdu=2t\,dt.

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Solution

Idea. Spot an inner function u(t)u(t) whose derivative appears (up to a constant) elsewhere in the integrand. Do not forget to change the bounds.

First integral. With u=t2u=t^2, du=2t dtdu=2t\,dt, and the bounds become 00 and 11:
∫01t1+t4 dt=12∫01du1+u2=12[arctan⁡u]01=π8.\int_0^1\frac t{1+t^4}\,dt=\frac12\int_0^1\frac{du}{1+u^2}=\frac12\bigl[\arctan u\bigr]_0^1=\frac\pi8.

Second integral. With u=t2u=t^2 the bounds become 00 and 1616:
∫04tet2 dt=12∫016eu du=e16−12.\int_0^4te^{t^2}\,dt=\frac12\int_0^{16}e^u\,du=\frac{e^{16}-1}2.

Remark. The second answer is huge (≈4.4⋅106\approx4.4\cdot10^6) because et2e^{t^2} explodes: always sanity-check the order of magnitude.