Incorrect integral calculation in MuPAD
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Integration of function x-1 wrt x using command int(x-1,x) in MuPAD gives answer as (x-1)^2/2 instead of x^2/2-x. Can anybody explain why?
Thanks in advance.
Regards Nishant
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Answers (1)
Walter Roberson
on 22 Dec 2015
The difference between the two is 1/2 which is a constant and so falls into the usual "plus an arbitrary constant" category. If you diff((x-1)^2/2,x) you get x-1, so you cannot say that the result is incorrect.
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Walter Roberson
on 23 Dec 2015
x^2/2 - x might be more conventional but remember that the indefinite integral is really x^2/2 - x + a constant, so any result of the form x^2/2 - x + a particular constant + an implied constant is mathematically correct
It does look unusual, but the mathematics of it is sound.
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