Integral of cos^4(x/4) dx ?

1 Answer
Feb 26, 2018

I=18(3x+8sin(x2)+sin(x))

Explanation:

We want to solve

I=cos4(x4)dx

When we have an integral of a trigonmetric function,
to some power, we often want to reduce the power of the trigonometric function, which will make the integration easier

So let's reduce the power of cosine, using

cos2(x)=12(1+cos(2x))

Thus

cos4(x4)=(cos2(x4))2

=(12(1+cos(x2)))2

=14(1+cos(x2))2

=14(1+2cos(x2)+cos2(x2))

=14(1+2cos(x2)+12(1+cos(x)))

=14(32+2cos(x2)+12cos(x))

So the integral becomes

I=14(32+2cos(x2)+12cos(x))dx

=14(32x+4sin(x2)+12sin(x))+C

=18(3x+8sin(x2)+sin(x))+C