Substitute x = 4 tan u x=4\tan u x = 4 tan u , d x = 4 sec 2 u d u \mathrm{d}x=4 \sec^2u\,\mathrm{d}u d x = 4 sec 2 u d u .
∫ 1 x 2 x 2 + 16 d x = ∫ 1 16 tan 2 u 16 tan 2 u + 16 4 sec 2 u d u = ∫ sec 2 u 16 tan 2 u sec u d u = 1 16 ∫ sec u tan 2 u d u = 1 16 ∫ cos u sin 2 u d u \begin{aligned}
\int\frac{1}{x^2\sqrt{x^2+16}}\,\mathrm{d}x
&=\int \frac{1}{16\tan^2 u \sqrt{16\tan^2 u+16}}\,4\sec^2 u\,\mathrm{d}u \\[0.1in]
&=\int \frac{\sec^2u}{16\tan^2u\sec u}\,\mathrm{d}u
=\frac{1}{16}\int \frac{\sec u}{\tan^2u}\,\mathrm{d}u \\[0.1in]
&= \frac{1}{16}\int\frac{\cos u}{\sin^2 u}\,\mathrm{d}u
\end{aligned} ∫ x 2 x 2 + 16 1 d x = ∫ 16 tan 2 u 16 tan 2 u + 16 1 4 sec 2 u d u = ∫ 16 tan 2 u sec u sec 2 u d u = 16 1 ∫ tan 2 u sec u d u = 16 1 ∫ sin 2 u cos u d u
To finish off the integral, we'll substitute v = sin u v=\sin u v = sin u ,
d v = cos u d u \mathrm{d}v=\cos u\,\mathrm{d}u d v = cos u d u .
∫ 1 x 2 x 2 + 16 d x = 1 16 ∫ cos u sin 2 u d u = 1 16 ∫ d v v 2 = − 1 16 v + C = − 1 16 sin u + C = − 1 16 x 2 + 16 x + C ! [ f i g u r e ] ( c l p / t i k z / 6 f 5 f f e 535 f . p n g ) \begin{aligned}
\int\frac{1}{x^2\sqrt{x^2+16}}\,\mathrm{d}x
&=\frac{1}{16} \int\frac{\cos u}{\sin^2 u}\,\mathrm{d}u
= \frac{1}{16}\int\frac{\mathrm{d}v}{v^2}
=-\frac{1}{16v} +C \\
&=-\frac{1}{16\sin u} +C
=-\frac{1}{16}\dfrac{\sqrt{x^2+16}}{x}+C
\smash{

}
\end{aligned} ∫ x 2 x 2 + 16 1 d x = 16 1 ∫ sin 2 u cos u d u = 16 1 ∫ v 2 d v = − 16 v 1 + C = − 16 sin u 1 + C = − 16 1 x x 2 + 16 + C ! [ f i gu re ] ( c lp / t ik z /6 f 5 ff e 535 f . p n g )
To find sin u \sin u sin u , we draw a right triangle with angle u u u and tan u = x 4 \tan u = \frac{x}{4} tan u = 4 x . We label the opposite side x x x and the adjacent side 4 4 4 , and then from Pythagoras we find that the hypotenuse has length x 2 + 16 \sqrt{x^2+16} x 2 + 16 . So, sin u = x 2 + 16 x \sin u = \dfrac{\sqrt{x^2+16}}{x} sin u = x x 2 + 16 .
As a check, we observe that the derivative of the answer
d d x ( − 1 16 x 2 + 16 x + C ) = 1 16 x 2 + 16 x 2 − 1 16 x x x 2 + 16 = 1 16 ( x 2 + 16 ) − x 2 x 2 x 2 + 16 = 1 x 2 x 2 + 16 \begin{aligned}
\frac{\mathrm{d}}{\mathrm{d}x}\left(-\frac{1}{16}\frac{\sqrt{x^2+16}}{x}+C\right)
&=\frac{1}{16}\frac{\sqrt{x^2+16}}{x^2}
-\frac{1}{16}\frac{x}{x\sqrt{x^2+16}}
=\frac{1}{16}\frac{(x^2+16)-x^2}{x^2\sqrt{x^2+16}} \\
&=\frac{1}{x^2\sqrt{x^2+16}}
\end{aligned} d x d ( − 16 1 x x 2 + 16 + C ) = 16 1 x 2 x 2 + 16 − 16 1 x x 2 + 16 x = 16 1 x 2 x 2 + 16 ( x 2 + 16 ) − x 2 = x 2 x 2 + 16 1
is exactly the integrand.