In this lesson, you will learn about the change of variables method and how it can simplify difficult integrals. The instructor first walks through a simple example where the area of an ellipse is calculated using a change of variables to rescale x and y coordinates. Then, the general problem of finding the scaling factor for a more complicated change of variables is discussed. The instructor explains how to find the scaling factor and highlights the importance of the determinant of the transformation in scaling areas. Overall, this lesson provides a useful tool for tackling difficult integrals.
Learn about the change of variables method for difficult integral calculations.
Denis Auroux. 18.02 Multivariable Calculus, Fall 2007. (Massachusetts Institute of Technology: MIT OpenCourseWare). http://ocw.mit.edu (Accessed March 21, 2009). License: Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike.