Past exam of the mathematics course of the year 1 of the natural sciences course of the University of Cambridge / 2011 / Paper 2 / 16

Use the integration by substitution $x=\sin \theta$, with $-\pi /6\le \theta \le \pi /6$. On this interval $\cos \theta >0$, so it cancels the positive denominator square root. The transformed integral isIts integrand is even. Therefore the answer in the PDF's modulus-amplitude convention for the elliptic integral of the second kind isThe modulus is $2/3$, not the squared parameter $4/9$.

Differentiating the parametrization gives $dx=a\cos \theta d\theta$ and $dy=-b\sin \theta d\theta$. Thus the arc length element isAll four quadrants give the same contribution. Consequently the ellipse perimeter isThe final factor is the complete elliptic integral of the second kind, evaluated at the eccentricity of a conic $e$.

For small $e$, the binomial series gives the uniform expansion $\sqrt{1-e^2{\sin }^2\theta }=1-(e^2/2){\sin }^2\theta +O(e^4)$. Since ${\int }_0^{2\pi }{\sin }^2\theta d\theta =\pi$, integration yieldsAlso $b=a\sqrt{1-e^2}=a(1-e^2/2+O(e^4))$, so the familiar symmetric approximation $\boxed{L=\pi (a+b)+O(a{e}^4)}$ is equivalent to this order. This is the first correction in the ellipse perimeter expansion near a circle; the two approximate formulas need not agree at order $e^4$.