Volumes by Cylindrical Shells

Some volume problems are very difcult to handle by the methods of Section 6.2. For instance, lets consider the problem of nding the volume of the solid obtained by rotating about the y-axis the region bounded by y 2 x 2 x 3 and y 0. (See Figure 1.) If we slice perpendicular to the y-axis, we get a washer. But to compute the inner radius and the outer radius of the washer, we would have to solve the cubic equation y 2 x 2 x 3 for x in terms of y; thats not easy. Fortunately, there is a method, called the method of cylindrical shells, that is easier to use in such a case. Figure 2 shows a cylindrical shell with inner radius r1, outer radius r2, and height h. Its volume V is calculated by subtracting the volume V1 of the inner cylinder from the volume V2 of the outer cylinder:
x

y=2-
1

xL=?

xR=?

V V2 V1
2 2 2 r 2 2 h r 1 h r 2 r 1 h

FIGURE 1 r r

r2 r1 r2 r1 h
r

r2 r1 hr2 r1 2

1 If we let r r2 r1 (the thickness of the shell) and r 2 r2 r1 (the average radius of the shell), then this formula for the volume of a cylindrical shell becomes

V 2 rh r

and it can be remembered as

FIGURE 2

V [circumference][height][thickness] Now let S be the solid obtained by rotating about the y-axis the region bounded by y f x [where f x 0], y 0, x a, and x b, where b a 0. (See Figure 3.)
y y

y=

y=

FIGURE 3

We divide the interval a, b into n subintervals x i1, x i of equal width x and let xi be the midpoint of the i th subinterval. If the rectangle with base x i1, x i and height f xi is rotated about the y-axis, then the result is a cylindrical shell with average radius xi , height f xi , and thickness x (see Figure 4), so by Formula 1 its volume is Vi 2 xi f xi x Therefore, an approximation to the volume V of S is given by the sum of the volumes of these shells: V
i1

i1

2 x f x x
i i

2 VOLUMES BY CYLINDRICAL SHELLS

y=

This approximation appears to become better as n l . But, from the denition of an integral, we know that
n l i1

lim

2 x f x x y
i i

2 xf x dx

a i x i-1 x

b xi

Thus, the following appears plausible:

2 The volume of the solid in Figure 3, obtained by rotating about the y-axis the region under the curve y f x from a to b, is

y=

V y 2 x f x dx
a

where 0 a b

FIGURE 4

The argument using cylindrical shells makes Formula 2 seem reasonable, but later we will be able to prove it. (See Exercise 47.) The best way to remember Formula 2 is to think of a typical shell, cut and attened as in Figure 5, with radius x, circumference 2 x, height f x, and thickness x or dx :

y
y

2 x
circumference

f x dx
height

x x FIGURE 5

2x x

This type of reasoning will be helpful in other situations, such as when we rotate about lines other than the y-axis.
EXAMPLE 1 Find the volume of the solid obtained by rotating about the y-axis the region bounded by y 2 x 2 x 3 and y 0.
SOLUTION From the sketch in Figure 6 we see that a typical shell has radius x, circumference 2 x, and height f x 2 x 2 x 3. So, by the shell method, the volume is x x 2-
2 x

V y 2 x2 x 2 x 3 dx 2 y 2 x 3 x 4 dx
0 0

2
FIGURE 6

1 2

5 x4 1 5x

2 0

16 2 (8 32 5 ) 5

It can be veried that the shell method gives the same answer as slicing.
y

Figure 7 shows a computer-generated picture of the solid whose volume we computed in Example 1.

FIGURE 7

VOLUMES BY CYLINDRICAL SHELLS 3

Comparing the solution of Example 1 with the remarks at the beginning of this section, we see that the method of cylindrical shells is much easier than the washer method for this problem. We did not have to nd the coordinates of the local maximum and we did not have to solve the equation of the curve for x in terms of y. However, in other examples the methods of the preceding section may be easier.

NOTE

y=x y= shell height=x-

0 x x

EXAMPLE 2 Find the volume of the solid obtained by rotating about the y-axis the region between y x and y x 2.
SOLUTION The region and a typical shell are shown in Figure 8. We see that the shell has radius x, circumference 2 x, and height x x 2. So the volume is

V y 2 x x x 2 dx 2 y x 2 x 3 dx
0

FIGURE 8

x3 x4 2 3 4

As the following example shows, the shell method works just as well if we rotate about the x-axis. We simply have to draw a diagram to identify the radius and height of a shell.
EXAMPLE 3 Use cylindrical shells to nd the volume of the solid obtained by rotating about the x-axis the region under the curve y s x from 0 to 1.
y 1 y

shell height=1-

SOLUTION This problem was solved using disks in Example 2 in Section 6.2. To use shells we relabel the curve y s x (in the gure in that example) as x y 2 in Figure 9. For rotation about the x-axis we see that a typical shell has radius y, circumference 2 y, and height 1 y 2. So the volume is

x=

shell radius=y
1

x=1

V y 2 y1 y 2 dy 2 y y y 3 dy
0

y2 y4 2 4

FIGURE 9

In this problem the disk method was simpler.

EXAMPLE 4 Find the volume of the solid obtained by rotating the region bounded by

y x x 2 and y 0 about the line x 2.

SOLUTION Figure 10 shows the region and a cylindrical shell formed by rotation about the line x 2. It has radius 2 x, circumference 2 2 x, and height x x 2.
y y

y=x-

x=2

FIGURE 10

2-x

The volume of the given solid is V y 2 2 x x x 2 dx 2 y x 3 3x 2 2 x dx

0 1 1

x4 x3 x2 4

4 VOLUMES BY CYLINDRICAL SHELLS

Exercises
A Click here for answers. S

Click here for solutions.

1520 Use the method of cylindrical shells to nd the volume generated by rotating the region bounded by the given curves about the specied axis. Sketch the region and a typical shell.

1. Let S be the solid obtained by rotating the region shown in

15. y x 2, y 0, x 1, x 2;
2 2

about x 1 about the y-axis about x 4 about x 2 about y 3

the gure about the y-axis. Explain why it is awkward to use slicing to nd the volume V of S. Sketch a typical approximating shell. What are its circumference and height? Use shells to nd V .
y

16. y x , y 0, x 2, x 1; 17. y x , y 0, x 1, x 2; 18. y 4 x x , y 8 x 2 x ;

2 2

19. y s x 1, y 0, x 5; y=x(x-1)@ 20. y x , x y ;

2 2

about y 1

2. Let S be the solid obtained by rotating the region shown in the

2126 Set up, but do not evaluate, an integral for the volume of the solid obtained by rotating the region bounded by the given curves about the specied axis.

gure about the y-axis. Sketch a typical cylindrical shell and nd its circumference and height. Use shells to nd the volume of S. Do you think this method is preferable to slicing? Explain.
y y=sin { }

21. y ln x, y 0, x 2; 22. y x, y 4 x x ;
2 4

about the y-axis about x 1 about x 2 about y 4

about x 7

23. y x , y sin x2;

2

24. y 11 x , y 0, x 0, x 2; 25. x ssin y, 0 y , x 0; 26. x y 7, x 4;

2

about y 5

27. Use the Midpoint Rule with n 4 to estimate the volume

Use the method of cylindrical shells to nd the volume generated by rotating the region bounded by the given curves about the y-axis. Sketch the region and a typical shell.
3. y 1x, 4. y x 2, 5. y e
x 2

37

obtained by rotating about the y-axis the region under the curve y tan x, 0 x 4 .
28. If the region shown in the gure is rotated about the y-axis to

y 0, y 0, y 0,
2

x 1, x1 x 0,

x2 x1

form a solid, use the Midpoint Rule with n 5 to estimate the volume of the solid.
y 5 4 3

6. y 3 2 x x 2, 7. y 4 x 2 ,

xy3

y x 2 4x 7

8. Let V be the volume of the solid obtained by rotating about the

y-axis the region bounded by y sx and y x 2. Find V both by slicing and by cylindrical shells. In both cases draw a diagram to explain your method.
914

1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 x

Use the method of cylindrical shells to nd the volume of the solid obtained by rotating the region bounded by the given curves about the x-axis. Sketch the region and a typical shell.
9. x 1 y 2,

2932

Each integral represents the volume of a solid. Describe

the solid.
29.

x 0,

y 1,

y2

2 x 5 dx
2

10. x sy, 11. y x ,

3

x 0, y 8,

y1 x0

30. 2 y 31. 32.

y dy 1 y2

12. x 4 y 2 y 3, 13. y 4 x ,
2

x0

2x y 6 x 4 y 12

y y

2 3 y1 y 2 dy 2 xcos x sin x dx

14. x y 3,

VOLUMES BY CYLINDRICAL SHELLS 5

; 3334

Use a graph to estimate the x-coordinates of the points of intersection of the given curves. Then use this information to estimate the volume of the solid obtained by rotating about the y-axis the region enclosed by these curves. yxx x
2 4

45. A right circular cone with height h and base radius r

46. Suppose you make napkin rings by drilling holes with different

33. y 0, 34. y x 4,

y 3x x 3

CAS

3536

Use a computer algebra system to nd the exact volume of the solid obtained by rotating the region bounded by the given curves about the specied line. about x 2 about x 1

35. y sin2 x, y sin4 x, 0 x ; 36. y x sin x, y 0, 0 x ;

3

diameters through two wooden balls (which also have different diameters). You discover that both napkin rings have the same height h, as shown in the gure. (a) Guess which ring has more wood in it. (b) Check your guess: Use cylindrical shells to compute the volume of a napkin ring created by drilling a hole with radius r through the center of a sphere of radius R and express the answer in terms of h.

3742 The region bounded by the given curves is rotated about the specied axis. Find the volume of the resulting solid by any method.

37. y x 2 x 2, y 0; 38. y x 3x 2, y 0;
2

about the x-axis about the y-axis about x 1

47. We arrived at Formula 2, V

39. y 5, y x 4x; 40. x 1 y 4, x 0; 41. x 2 y 12 1; 42. x y 1 1;

2

xab 2 x f x dx, by using

about x 2 about the y-axis about the x-axis

cylindrical shells, but now we can use integration by parts to prove it using the slicing method of Section 6.2, at least for the case where f is one-to-one and therefore has an inverse function t. Use the gure to show that V b 2d a 2c y t y 2 dy
c d

4345

Use cylindrical shells to nd the volume of the solid.

43. A sphere of radius r 44. The solid torus (a donut-shaped solid with radii R and r)

Make the substitution y f x and then use integration by parts on the resulting integral to prove that V xab 2 x f x dx.
y d

shown in the gure

x=g(y)

y=

R r

x=b x=a
a b x

6 VOLUMES BY CYLINDRICAL SHELLS

Answers
9. 212 S
y 2

Click here for solutions.

1+

1. Circumference 2 x, height x x 12; 15

y

x(x-1)@
0 y 1 x

y
0 1 x

3. 2

1 x
0 y x

11. 768 7 13. 2503 15. 176 17. 676 21. x12 2 x ln x dx 23.

19. 24

25. 29. Solid obtained by rotating the region 0 y x 4, 0 x 3

x01 2 x 1sin x2 x 4 dx x0 2 4 y ssin y dy 27. 1.142

about the y-axis

31. Solid obtained by rotating the region bounded by

(i) x 1 y 2, x 0, and y 0, or (ii) x y 2, x 1, and y 0 about the line y 3 1 33. 0, 1.32; 4.05 35. 32 3 37. 8110 4 1 39. 8 3 ln 4 41. 43 43. 3 r 3 45. 3 r 2h

5. 1 1e

7. 16

VOLUMES BY CYLINDRICAL SHELLS 7

Solutions: Volumes by Cylindrical Shells

1. If we were to use the washer method, we would rst have to locate the local maximum point (a, b) of y = x(x 1)2 using the methods of Chapter 4. Then we would have to solve the equation y = x(x 1)2 for x in terms of y to

obtain the functions x = g1 (y) and x = g2 (y ) shown in the rst gure. This step would be difcult because it involves the cubic formula. Finally we would nd the volume using Rb V = 0 [g1 (y)]2 [g2 (y )]2 dy.

Using shells, we nd that a typical approximating shell has radius x, so its circumference is 2 x. Its height is y, that is, x(x 1)2 . So the total volume is V = Z R1
0

5 1 R1 x x4 x3 2 + 2 x x(x 1)2 dx = 2 0 x4 2x3 + x2 dx = 2 = 5 4 3 0 15 Z

2

2 1

3. V =

2 x

1 dx = 2 x

1 dx
1

= 2 [x]2 1 = 2 (2 1) = 2

5. V =

Thus, du = 2x dx, so R1 1 V = 0 eu du = eu 0 = (1 1/e)

R1
0

2 xex dx. Let u = x2 .

8 VOLUMES BY CYLINDRICAL SHELLS

7. The curves intersect when 4(x 2)2 = x2 4x + 7 4x2 16x + 16 = x2 4x + 7 3x2 12x + 9 = 0 V = 2 = 2 R3
1

R3 R 3 2 x x 4x + 7 4(x 2)2 dx = 2 1 x(x2 4x + 7 4x2 + 16x 16) dx 1 81

4

3(x2 4x + 3) = 0 3(x 1)(x 3) = 0, so x = 1 or 3.

= 6

R3 4 4 3 3 2 3 x(3x2 + 12x 9) dx = 2 (3) 1 (x3 4x2 + 3x) dx = 6 1 x 3x + 2x 1 4 36 +

27 2

1
4

4 3

3 2

= 6 20 36 + 12 + 4 = 6 8 = 16 3 3

9. V =

R2 2 1 4 2 2y 1 + y 2 dy = 2 1 y + y 3 dy = 2 1 y + 4y 1 2 21 1 1 21 = 2 (2 + 4) 2 + 4 = 2 4 = 2 R2
1

11. V = 2

8 0 8 0

[y ( 3 y 0)] dy y4/3 dy = 2 h
3 7/3 y 7

= 2 =

i8
0

6 7/3 6 7 768 (8 ) = (2 ) = 7 7 7

VOLUMES BY CYLINDRICAL SHELLS 9

13. The curves intersect when 4x2 = 6 2x 2x2 + x 3 = 0 (2x + 3)(x 1) = 0 x = 3 or 1. 2 2 1 1 Solving the equations for x gives us y = 4x x = 2 y and 2x + y = 6 x = 2 y + 3. Z 9 Z 4 1 1 1 y 2 y 2 y y 2y + 3 1 dy + 2 y dy V = 2 2 = 2 = 2 32 3 + 24 + 32 + 2 243 + 243 + 243 5 2 2 5 = 1250 + 2 433 = 250 = 128 5 15 15 3 2 Z
0 4

(y y ) dy + 2

y2 1 2

+ 3y +

1 3 /2 y 2

dy = 2
32 5

2 5/2 y 5

i4
0

h i9 + 2 1 y3 + 3 y2 + 1 y 5/2 6 2 5
4

15. V =

= 2 4

R2
1

2(x 1)x2 dx = 2
8 3

1
4

1 3

1
4

x4 1 x3 3
17 6

2
1

17. V =

= 2

R2
1

32
3

2(4 x)x2 dx = 2

1 = 4 4 3 4

3x

4 1 4x

67 6

2
1

19. V =

2(3 y)(5 x)dy = 0 2(3 y) 5 y 2 1 dy R2 = 0 2 12 4y 3y 2 + y 3 dy 2 = 2 12y 2y 2 y 3 + 1 y4 0 4

0

R2 R2

= 2 (24 8 8 + 4) = 24

10 VOLUMES BY CYLINDRICAL SHELLS

21. V =

R2
1

2 x ln x dx

23. V =

R1
0

4 dx 2 [x (1)] sin 2xx

25. V =

R
0

2(4 y)

sin y dy

27. x = V = 29. R3
0

/4 0 = . 4 16
0

2 x5 dx = 2

R /4

2 x tan x dx 2 R3
0

16

x(x4 ) dx. The solid is obtained by rotating the region 0 y x4 , 0 x 3 about the

32

tan 32 +

3 32

tan 3 + 32

5 32

tan 5 + 32

7 32

1.142 tan 7 32

y-axis using cylindrical shells. R1

0

31.

2 (3 y )(1 y 2 ) dy. The solid is obtained by rotating the region bounded by (i) x = 1 y2 , x = 0, and

y = 0 or (ii) x = y2 , x = 1, and y = 0 about the line y = 3 using cylindrical shells. From the graph, the curves intersect at x = 0 and at x = a 1.32, with obtained by rotating the region about the y-axis is V = 2 = 2 Z
a 0

33.

x + x2 x4 > 0 on the interval (0, a). So the volume of the solid x(x + x2 x4 ) dx = 2 a
0

1
3

a 0

(x2 + x3 x5 ) dx

x3 + 1 x4 1 x6 4 6

4.05

35. V = 2

/2 0

CAS 1 3 = 32

x sin2 x sin4 x dx

VOLUMES BY CYLINDRICAL SHELLS 11

37. Use disks: V = R1

2

1
5

39. Use shells: R4 V = 1 2[x (1)][5 (x + 4/x)] dx = 2 = 2 = 2 R4

1 1 1

33
5

x5 + 1 x4 x3 2x2 + 4x 2 +
3 2

2 R1 x2 + x 2 dx = 2 x4 + 2x3 3x2 4x + 4 dx =
81 10

1
5

1 2

1 2 + 4 32 +8+888 5

= 2 (12 4 ln 4) = 8 (3 ln 4) 41. Use disks: V = Rr Z

2 0

4 3 2 x2 + 4x + 1 4/x dx = 2 1 3 x + 2x + x 4 ln x 1 = 2 64 + 32 + 4 4 ln 4 1 +2+10 3 3 q 2 Z
2 0

R4 R4

(x + 1)(5 x 4/x) dx

5x x2 4 + 5 x 4/x dx

1 (y 1)2

dy =

h 1/2 Rr 43. V = 2 0 2 x r 2 x2 dx = 2 0 r 2 x2 (2x) dx = 2 3 3 = 4 = 4 3 0 r 3 r 45. V = 2 Z

r 0

8 4 3 2 2y y2 dy = y 2 1 y = 4 = 3 0 3 3
2 3

r 2 x2

3/2 ir

r Z r x2 h r2 x3 x2 r2 h x x + h dx = 2 h = 2 h + x dx = 2 h + = r r 3 r 2 6 3 0 0

47. Using the formula for volumes of rotation and the gure, we see that Rd Rc Rd Rd Volume = 0 b2 dy 0 a2 dy c [g(y )]2 dy = b2 d a2 c c [g (y )]2 dy . Let y = f (x), which Rb gives dy = f 0 (x) dx and g (y) = x, so that V = b2 d a2 c a x2 f 0 (x) dx. Now integrate

by parts with u = x2 , and dv = f 0 (x) dx du = 2x dx, v = f (x), and b R b Rb Rb 2 0 x f (x) dx = x2 f (x) a a 2x f (x) dx = b2 f (b) a2 f (a) a 2x f (x) dx, but f (a) = c and f (b) = d a h i R Rb b V = b2 d a2 c b2 d a2 c a 2xf (x) dx = a 2xf (x) dx.