Past exam of the mathematics course of the year 1 of the natural sciences course of the University of Cambridge / 2014 / Paper 1 / 2

For positive $a$, write $a^{-x}=\exp (-x\ln a)$. Differentiating by the chain rule givesThe natural logarithm of the constant base supplies the factor; it must not be omitted when $a\ne e$.

Set $u=\ln x$, so $du=dx/x$. The real domain is $x>1$, ensuring $u>0$. The integration by substitution followed by integration by parts givesThus