[Math] Integration of a square root inside another square root function.

calculusdefinite integralsintegration

Integrate the following $$\int_0^5 \sqrt{5-\sqrt{x}} \ \mathrm{d}x$$ I have done the following:

I got the expression under the square root to equal $$5-x^{1/2}$$ so the integral then becomes $$\int_0^5 \left(5-x^{1/2}\right)^{1/2}\ \mathrm{d}x$$ Here is where I am stuck. Do I need to use some variation of the binomial theorem here?

I hope my use of MathJax was "up-to-code" here. I apologize if not.

Best Answer

We can make the $u$-substitution $$u=5-\sqrt{x}$$ and solve for $x$ here. We get $x=(u-5)^2$ so $$\mathrm{d}x=(2u-10) \ \mathrm{d}u$$ Now to find the new bounds we use $u=5-\sqrt{x}$. So the bounds are $u=5-\sqrt{0} =5$ and $u=5-\sqrt{5}$. The integral is now $$\int_5^{5-\sqrt{5}}\! \sqrt{u} \cdot (2u-10)\ \mathrm{d}u$$ Which is easy to solve.