Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge / 2011 / ia / Paper 2 / 8A / a

Rewrite the integrand as $\sqrt{1-t{\cos }^2\theta }$. The binomial series, uniformly valid in $\theta$ for $|t|$ bounded below one, givesThe integrals of $1,{\cos }^2\theta ,{\cos }^4\theta$ over a full period are respectively $2\pi ,\pi ,3\pi /4$. Termwise integration therefore yields the ellipse perimeter expansion near a circle