expanding on this, would just say that such a method just isn't rigourous but if there are applicable qs in the hsc u would use it cos they don't rlly care abt this stuff.
I was arguing that the answers u obtain using these methods aren't the same function because of the inherent restriction u put on certain values, which can cause problems such as what u pointed out in evaluating definite integrals. I am also fully aware of the trick, in fact I've used it before...
What I mean is just because the original integrand is undefined doesn't mean the primitive is also undefined at that point. This is because the primitive could have a vertical tangent at the point where the original function is undefined (e.g. 1/sqrt(1-x^2) is undefined at x = +-1 yet it's...
this is irrelevant since the original function being undefined at a point doesn't mean it's primitive is also undefined, eg f(x) = 1/(sqrt(1-x^2)). In this case the manipulation works (I think) and the results end up being the same due to how we define trig functions most likely, but as a...