What is the indefinite integral of -1 / (x(ln x)^2)?

1 Answer
May 10, 2016

int-1/(x(lnx)^2)dx=1/lnx+C

Explanation:

We first begin by taking that negative sign out of the integral:

-int1/(x(lnx)^2)dx

If we think about this, we see that we have a function, lnx, and its derivative, 1/x, in the same integral. Don't be bothered by the fact that lnx is in the denominator; all that matters is this integral can be solved with a u-substitution:
Let color(red)(u)=color(red)lnx->(du)/dx=1/x->color(blue)(du)=color(blue)(1/xdx)

Applying this substitution to -intcolor(blue)(1/x)1/(color(red)(lnx)^2)color(blue)(dx), we have:
-int1/(u^2)du

This is equivalent to -intu^(-2)du, which can be solved using the reverse power rule:
-intu^(-2)du=-(-u^(-1))=1/u+C

Because u=lnx, we can back-substitute to end up with:
1/lnx+C