When faced with the integral of a product of two functions, such as \( \int 6x e^{x^2} \, dx \), a common approach is to use variable substitution. However, if the problem changes to \( \int 6x e^x \, dx \), this method becomes ineffective. In such cases, integration by parts (IBP) is a valuable technique to apply.
Integration by parts is based on the product rule of differentiation, which states that for two functions \( f(x) \) and \( g(x) \), the derivative of their product is given by:
\[\frac{d}{dx}(f(x)g(x)) = f'(x)g(x) + f(x)g'(x)\]
To derive the integration by parts formula, we can integrate both sides of this equation:
\[\int f'(x)g(x) \, dx = f(x)g(x) - \int f(x)g'(x) \, dx\]
Rearranging this gives us the integration by parts formula:
\[\int u \, dv = uv - \int v \, du\]
In this formula, \( u \) is a function that simplifies when differentiated, and \( dv \) is a function that can be easily integrated to find \( v \).
To apply integration by parts to the integral \( \int 6x e^x \, dx \), we first identify \( u \) and \( dv \). A suitable choice is:
- Let \( u = 6x \) (which simplifies to \( du = 6 \, dx \))
- Let \( dv = e^x \, dx \) (which integrates to \( v = e^x \))
Substituting these into the integration by parts formula yields:
\[\int 6x e^x \, dx = 6x e^x - \int e^x \cdot 6 \, dx\]
This simplifies to:
\[\int 6x e^x \, dx = 6x e^x - 6 \int e^x \, dx\]
Since the integral of \( e^x \) is simply \( e^x \), we can further simplify the expression:
\[\int 6x e^x \, dx = 6x e^x - 6e^x + C\]
Thus, the final result for the integral is:
\[\int 6x e^x \, dx = 6e^x(x - 1) + C\]
Understanding how to choose \( u \) and \( dv \) is crucial for successfully applying integration by parts. Practice with various examples will help solidify this technique, making it easier to tackle more complex integrals in the future.