∫Calc Practice

Integrals giving inverse trig functions

Problem 4.960 · medium

Evaluate \( \displaystyle \int_{-1}^{0} \frac{1}{x^{2} + 2 x + 2}\, dx \).
  1. \[ x^{2} + 2 x + 2 = \left(x + 1\right)^{2} + 1 \]
    Complete the square.✓ Proved
  2. With u = x + 1 and a = 1, this is c·∫ du/(u² + a²)
  3. \[ \frac{d}{d x} \operatorname{atan}{\left(x + 1 \right)} = \frac{1}{x^{2} + 2 x + 2} \]
    An antiderivative is atan(x + 1); differentiate to confirm.✓ Proved
  4. \[ \frac{\pi}{4} \]
    Evaluate between the limits.✓ Proved
Answer \( \frac{\pi}{4} \)

Lines: 3 proved, 1 not checked. The answer was also checked a second way, without looking at the solution. The reviewers disagree about how one step is explained; every verdict is in the receipt.

The full receipt
LineStatusChecked byDetail
1✓ Provedsympy 1.14.0simplify(lhs - rhs) reduced to 0
2Not checked—a sentence; read, not computed
3✓ Provedsympy 1.14.0simplify(lhs - rhs) reduced to 0
4✓ Provedsympy 1.14.0simplify(lhs - rhs) reduced to 0
answer, a second way✓ Checked independentlysympy 1.14.0 + mpmath 1.3.0numerical quadrature

Reviewers

  • gpt-oss:20b: fail (error) — The solution skips the change of limits when substituting u=x+1 and does not actually evaluate the antiderivative at the bounds; it merely states the result without justification.
  • qwen3.6:27b-mlx: pass — The solution correctly identifies the antiderivative and evaluates the definite integral. The intermediate sentence is informal but mathematically sound in its implication.
Every verdict on record (4)
  • gpt-oss:20b: fail (error) 2026-10-12 — The solution skips the change of limits when substituting u=x+1 and does not actually evaluate the antiderivative at the bounds; it merely states the result without justification.
  • qwen3.6:27b-mlx: pass 2026-10-12 — The solution correctly identifies the antiderivative and evaluates the definite integral. The intermediate sentence is informal but mathematically sound in its implication.
  • gpt-oss:20b: fail (error) 2026-10-12 — The solution omits the change of limits when substituting u=x+1 and does not actually evaluate the definite integral; the final statement "pi/4 = pi/4" is not a justification of the result.
  • qwen3.6:27b-mlx: pass 2026-10-12 — The solution correctly completes the square, identifies the antiderivative as arctan(x+1), and evaluates the definite integral to pi/4. The steps are logically sound and algebraically correct.

Proved: SymPy reduced the difference between the two sides to zero. Checked independently: a separate method, named above, confirmed it. Checked numerically: the two sides agree at every sampled point, which is evidence, not proof. Reviewed: a model or a person read it; that is all a sentence can have. Solution by generator:structured/inverse_trig_integral, checked 2026-10-12 with SymPy 1.14.0.