Tuesday, April 23, 2013

xkcd: integration by parts

Came across this xkcd comic:

No, it should be integral of v du that you want to see if it is easier.

For the record, I haven't need to do this once after high school.

u-substitution and by-part are the only 2 general methods to evaluate integrals. People came up with all sorts of techniques to integrate expressions for certain patterns... and therefore you got the table of integrals on the back of your calculus book.

omg, now you can do just about everything with calculus on the web. See this powerful Wolfram site: http://www.wolframalpha.com/examples/Calculus.html

Now, should we let kids use calculators on their test? What if they fire up their phones online and cheat that way?

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