THE VOLUME OF AN n-DIMENSIONAL SPHERE IN Rn+1

1. Introduction
A circle of radius R can be thought of as the set of points (x, y) in R2 that are
a distance R from the origin. The equation is written x2 + y 2 = R2 . The region it
encloses has a size (area) of R2 and the circle itself is a curve, or one-dimensional
object. Similarly a sphere of radius R can be thought of as the set of points (x, y, z)
in R3 that are a distance R from the origin. It encloses a region of size (volume)
4
3
2
2
2
2
3 R , its equation is x + y + z = R , and it is a surface, or two-dimensional
object.
Now we can see the way to define an n-dimensional sphere in Rn+1 as the set
of points (x1 , x2 , xn+1 ) that satisfy the equation x21 + x22 + + x2n+1 = R2 .
This object should enclose a region which has a size which should be of the form
cn Rn+1 for some constant cn . For example in the case n = 1 of the circle, c1 = .
For the sphere n = 2, c2 = 34 . How can we find cn in general and hence the
volume of an n-dimensional sphere of radius R?
2. The Cases n = 0, 1, 2
Lets begin with the cases we already know: n = 0, 1 and 2. What is a 0dimensional sphere of radius R? It is the set of points x in R which are a distance
R from the origin. This is just two points x = R. They enclose a region of length
2R. So we have that c0 = 2.
Now lets take a closer look at the case n = 1. If we chop up the circle of radius
R into a bunch of horizontal slices of small thickness
p y, then the slice
p which
corresponds to the height y is a segment from x = R2 y 2 p
to x = + R2 y 2 .
(See Figure 1) This is exactly a 0-dimensional sphere of radius R2 y 2 which we
2

R t
t

We measure the size of an ndimensional

sphere by cutting it vertically from t = R
to t = +R. Each slice is then an (n1)
dimensional sphere of radius square root
of (R^2 t^2).

Figure 1. The circle is built up by line segments of different lengths

p
p
know has a length 2 R2 y 2 . So the area of a small slice is 2 R2 y 2 y. Thus
to get the total area we integrate from y = R to y = +R:
Z R p
2 R2 y 2 dy
R

THE VOLUME OF AN N -DIMENSIONAL SPHERE IN RN +1

The integrand is an even function of y, so to get the total area, we can just take
the area of the top half and multiply by 2:
Z Rp
R2 y 2 dy
4
0

p
R2 y 2 = R cos() and dy =
To do this integral, let y = R sin(). Then
R cos()d. When y = 0, = 0, and when y = R, = 2 . So our area integral reduces to:
Z 2
2
cos2 ()d
4R
0

Now how do we find an anti-derivative of cos2 ()? We use the identity

cos2 () =

(2.1)

1 + cos(2)
2

Hence our integral becomes:

4R

21

sin(2) 2
2
+
= R
2
0

since the second term is zero at both endpoints. Hence we have rederived the known
area of a circle of radius R after much effort. Was it worth it? We will see that
indeed it was, because this exact same method will work in any dimension!
Lets looks now at the ordinary 2-sphere in R3 . The equation is x2 +y 2 +z 2 = R2 .
We will chop it up into horizontal slabs of small thickness z. If we look at a fixed
2
2
2
2
value of z somewhere
between z = R and z = +R, we have x +y = R z , which
2
2
is a circle of radius R z . (See Figure 2). Hence each small horizontal slice has a
2

R t
t

We measure the size of an ndimensional

sphere by cutting it vertically from t = R
to t = +R. Each slice is then an (n1)
dimensional sphere of radius square root
of (R^2 t^2).

Figure 2. The sphere is built up by circles of different radii

volume equal to the area of the circle multiplied by its thickness: ( R2 z 2 )2 z.

To get the total volume, we add up all these slices from z = 0 to z = R and multiply
by 2, because of the symmetry:

R
Z R
1 3
4
2
2
2
(R z )dz = 2 R z z = R3
2
3
3
0
0
This is exactly the volume of the sphere we were expecting, and this time the integral
was actually easier because we didnt have to do a trigonometric substitution! Were
ready now to look at 3 and 4 dimensional spheres in R4 and R5 .

THE VOLUME OF AN n-DIMENSIONAL SPHERE IN Rn+1

3. The cases n = 3 and n = 4

We will do two more cases explicitly, to make sure we see the pattern, and then
we will try to develop a general formula. For the case n = 4, we have the equation
x2 + y 2 + z 2 + w2 = R2 . Again we chop this up along the w-axis into horizontal
slices which have a small thickness w. For constant w, we get a 2-sphere of radius

R2 w2 , since we can rearrange the equation into x2 + y 2 + z 2 = R2 w2 . The

total volume of theslice will be the thickness
w multiplied by the volume of
the sphere of radius R2 w2 , and thus is 43 ( R2 w2 )3 w. (See Figure 3).
Once again, to get the total volume we take the integral from w = 0 to w = R

R t
t

We measure the size of an ndimensional

sphere by cutting it vertically from t = R
to t = +R. Each slice is then an (n1)
dimensional sphere of radius square root
of (R^2 t^2).

Figure 3. The 3-sphere is built up by 2-spheres of different radii

and double it:

4
(R2 w2 )3/2 dw
0 3
This one will again require the substitution w = R sin(). The integral becomes
Z 2
8
R4 cos4 ()d

3 0
Now we use the identity in equation 2.1 twice:

2
1 + cos(2)
cos4 () =
2
1
(1 + 2 cos(2) + cos2 (2))
=
4

1
1 + cos(4)
=
1 + 2 cos(2) +
4
2

1 3
1
=
+ 2 cos(2) + cos(4)
4 2
2
2

Now the integrals of cos(2) and cos(4) from 0 to 2 are both zero, so only the first
term contributes:
Z
8 41 2 3
2 4
R
d =
R
3
4 0 2
2
2

So we have found that c3 = 2 . It is probably not what you expected. Lets do one
more.
We take the 4-sphere in R5 given by x2 + y 2 + z 2 + w2 + t2 = R2 and chop it
up into horizontal slices from t = R to t = +R of thickness t, each of which is

THE VOLUME OF AN N -DIMENSIONAL SPHERE IN RN +1

a slightly
thickened 3-sphere of radius R2 t2 , which we now know has volume

2
2
2 4
2 ( R t ) t. Theres no need for reproducing the same figure a fourth time,
since by now you should have noticed the picture is always the same. Now the total
volume of this 4-sphere is:
Z R
Z R 2

(R4 2R2 t2 + t4 )dt

(R2 t2 )2 dt = 2
2
2
0
0

R
2 2 3 1 5
4
2
R t R t + t
=
3
5
0

8 2 5
R
=
15
8 2
which gives c4 = 15
. Like the n = 2 case, this integral was easy to do and did
not involve trigonometric substitution. Are you ready to guess the pattern yet?
4. The general case

4.1. The basic construction. It seems that the calculation is very different depending on whether the dimension n is even or odd. Lets do the calculation
(which we have now done four times) once more in general. The n-sphere in Rn+1
is given by x21 + x22 + + x2n+1 = R2 . We chop it up into horizontal slices from
xn+1 = R to xn+1 = +R of thickness
xn+1 . Each such slice is a slightly thickq
ened (n 1) sphere of radius R2 x2n+1 , so the thickened slice has a volume
q
n
cn1
R2 x2n+1 xn+1 . Hence the total volume will be:
Z R
2
n
cn Rn+1 = 2cn1
R t2 2 dt
0

The R can be factored out to give:

cn R

n+1

= 2cn1 R

t2
1 2
R

n2

dt

2
Now let us make the change of variables s = 1 Rt 2 . Then t = R 1 s, and

dt = 2Rds
. The limits of integration become s = 1 and s = 0, so we have:
1s
Z 0
n
Rds
n+1
n
s2
cn R
= 2cn1 R
2 1s
1
Z 1

n
1
s 2 (1 s) 2 ds
= cn1 Rn+1
0

We can now cancel the powers of R and obtain the formula:

Z 1

n
1
s 2 (1 s) 2 ds
(4.1)
cn = cn1
0

which gives cn in terms of cn1 . Hence our next step for now is to evaluate this
n
above integral. We will integrate by parts. Lets differentiate the term s 2 and
1

integrate the term (1 s) 2 .

n

u = s2

n n
du = s 2 1 ds
2

dv = (1 s)

21

v = 2(1 s)

1
2

ds

THE VOLUME OF AN n-DIMENSIONAL SPHERE IN Rn+1

Then our integral becomes

Z 1

1 n 2 Z 1 n
1
1
n
n

12
2
2
2
s (1 s) ds = 2s (1 s) +
s 2 1 (1 s) 2 ds
2
1
0
0
0

The first term goes away because it is zero at both s = 0 and s = 1. So we have
reduced the integral to some constant (which we have written in a strange way for
a reason) multiplied by another integral where the power of s has decreased by one
and the power of (1 s) has increased by one. Notice that the sum of the two
powers is still n2 12 . Lets do it again.
n

u = s 2 1
n
n
du =
1 s 2 2 ds
2
Then the integral (without the constant of
Z

n
2 1

dv = (1 s) 2 ds
3
2
v = (1 s) 2
3
n2
2 1)

now becomes

2Z 1 n

3
3
n
2 n 1
2

2
s 2 2 (1 s) 2 ds
1
(1 s) ds = s
(1 s) +
3
2
3
0
0
1
2

Again, the first term is zero. Remembering the constant we had left out, our orignal
integral can now be written as:
Z 1
n n
22Z 1 n
3
n
1
s 2 2 (1 s) 2 ds
s 2 (1 s) 2 ds =
1
2
2
13 0
0
The pattern should be clear now. Every time we decrease the power of s from
n
1
1
n
2 (k 1) to 2 k and increase the power of (1 s) from (k 1) 2 to k 2
2
we pick up a factor of n2 (k 1) and a factor of 2k1
. Notice that the sum of the
1
n
two powers is always 2 2 . So if we have done the integration by parts procedure
k times in total, our integral has become:
Z 1
n
1
s 2 (1 s) 2 ds =
0

Z 1
n

n
222
2k1
n
2
1
2
(k 1)

s 2 k (1 s) 2 ds
2
2
2
135
2k 1 0

n n
2

4.2. A Recursive Formula in the Even Case. Right now it doesnt look like
weve really made our life any easier, but were about to see the fruits of our labours.
Here the discussion needs to break up into two distinct cases: whether n is even
or odd. Recall from the explicit examples that when n was even the integration
seemed to be easier, because there were no trigonometric substitutions. So lets
consider the even case first.
If n is even, we can write is as n = 2k for some positive integer k. In this case
the messy integral above simplifies to:
Z 1
1
sk (1 s) 2 ds =
0

2
222

k(k 1)(k 2) (1)

135
2k 1

(1 s)

2k1
2

ds

THE VOLUME OF AN N -DIMENSIONAL SPHERE IN RN +1

Notice that the integral that were left with is no longer a product of two functions!
In fact we can integrate it immediately:
1

Z 1

2k+1
2k1
2
2
=
(1 s) 2
(1 s) 2 ds =

2k
+
1
2k
+1
0
0
Things are looking good now. Weve reduced our integral to:
Z 1
2
2
222
1
sk (1 s) 2 ds = k(k 1)(k 2) (1)

135
2k 1 2k + 1
0

We recognize the first k terms as being k!. To simplify the rest of the terms, lets
multiply by one a bunch of times in a clever way:
2
2
222

135
2k 1 2k + 1

=
=
=

222426
2 2k 2

123456
2k 1 2k 2k + 1
k
2
2
212223

2k
123456
2k 1 2k 2k + 1
k!
2k 2k+1
(2k + 1)!

This means our integral is finally:

Z 1
1
sk (1 s) 2 ds = 22k+1
0

(k!)
(2k + 1)!

Hence when n = 2k is even, we have:

2

(4.2)

c2k = 22k+1

(k!)
c2k1
(2k + 1)!

4.3. A Recursive Formula in the Odd Case. Eventually we will write down a
formula for cn which does not recursively refer to cn1 , but before we can do that
we need to tackle the odd case. Therefore let us now assume that n = 2k 1 is
odd. Then the integral from the previous page can be written as:
Z 1
1
1
sk 2 (1 s) 2 ds =
0

Z 1
2k1
1
3
5
1 222
2
1
k
k

s 2 (1 s) 2 ds

k
2
2
2
2 135
2k 1 0

Before looking at the integral, lets simplify the coefficient:

3
5
1 222
1
2
k
k

2
2
2
2 135
2k 1

2k 3
2k 5
1 222
2
2k 1

=
2
2
2
2 135
2k 1
= 1
Thats a pretty good simplification! Were reduced now to:
Z 1
2k1
1
s 2 (1 s) 2 ds
c2k1 = c2k2
0

Weve been expecting a trigonometric substitution somewhere in the odd case, so

1
1
lets do that now. Let s 2 = sin(). Then (1s) = cos2 (), and 21 s 2 ds = cos()d.

THE VOLUME OF AN n-DIMENSIONAL SPHERE IN Rn+1

Also, the limits of integration change from s = 0 and s = 1 to = 0 and =

This substitution yields:
Z

1
1

s 2 (1 s)

2k1
2

ds = 2

2.

cos2k ()d

Therefore we have now reduced the problem to integrating cos2k () from = 0 to

= 2 . We are almost done. To do this integral, lets integrate by parts:
u = cos2k1 ()

dv = cos()d

du = (2k 1) cos2k2 () sin()d

Then we have
Z 2
Z
2k1
2
2k

cos ()d = cos

() sin() 0 +
0

v = sin()

(2k 1) cos2k2 () sin2 ()d

The first term goes away because it is zero at both endpoints. In the second term,
subsitute sin2 () = 1 cos2 () to get:
Z

cos2k ()d

(2k)

cos2k ()d

cos2k ()d

(2k 1)

cos2k2 ()d (2k 1)

cos2k ()d

Z 2
(2k 1)
cos2k2 ()d
0
Z

2
2k 1
=
cos2k2 ()d
2k
0
=

This gives us a recursive formula, which we now apply repeatedly:

Z

cos2k ()d

=
=
=
=

2k 1
2k

cos2k2 ()d

Z
(2k 1)(2k 3)(2k 5) (3)(1) 2
d
(2k)(2k 2)(2k 4) (4)(2)
0
1 (2k 1)(2k 2)(2k 3)(2k 4) (4)(3)(2)(1)
2k (k)(k 1)(k 2) (1)(2k 2)(2k 4) (4)(2) 2
1 1 (2k 1)!
2k 2k1 k!(k 1)! 2
(2k 1)!
22k k!(k 1)!

Finally, we have obtained:

(4.3)

c2k1 =

22k1

(2k 1)!
c2k2
k!(k 1)!

4.4. The General Formula. Since we have now obtained recursive expression for
cn in both the even and odd cases, we can combine them to get a general formula,

THE VOLUME OF AN N -DIMENSIONAL SPHERE IN RN +1

using our knowledge that c0 = 2 and c1 = .

2

c2k

22k+1

22k+1

(k!)
c2k1
(2k + 1)!
2

=
=

(2k 1)!
(k!)
c2k2
(2k + 1)! 22k1 k!(k 1)!
4k
c2k2
(2k + 1)(2k)
2
c2k2
2k + 1

Now we can use this relation to get an expression for c2k :

c2k

=
=
=
=

2
c2k2
2k + 1
2k k
c0
(2k + 1)(2k 1) (5)(3)
2k k (2k)(2k 2)(2k 4) (2)
c0
(2k + 1)(2k)(2k 1) (2)(1)
22k+1 k k!
(2k + 1)!

We have thus finally achieved a general formula for the even case. Now lets tackle
the odd case similarly:
c2k1

=
=
=

(2k 1)!
c2k2
22k1 k!(k 1)!

(2k 1)! 2k1 ((k 1)!)

2
c2k3
2k1
2
k!(k 1)!
(2k 1)!

c2k3
k

This recursive relation then gives:

c2k1

=
=
=

c2k3
k
k1
c1
k!
k
k!

To summarize, we have found the following two formulas for the volume of a sphere
of radius R in Rn+1 , where the volume is cn Rn+1 .
(4.4)

c2k =

22k+1 k k!
(2k + 1)!

c2k1 =

k
k!

4.5. Results in Low Dimensions. Here is a table showing the numerical values
for n = 1, 2, 3, . . . , 12:

THE VOLUME OF AN n-DIMENSIONAL SPHERE IN Rn+1

n
cn
Numerical value
0
2
2.000000000
1

3.141592654
4
2
4.188790204
3
2
3
4.934802202
2
8 2
4
5.263789015
15
3
5
5.167712783
6
16 3
6
4.724765972
105
4
7
4.058712129
24 4
8 32
3.298508904
945
5
9
2.550164042
120
64 5
10 10395
1.884103881
6
11
1.335262770
720
128 6
12 135135
0.910628755
It seems that as the dimension gets larger, the volume of the spheres gets smaller
and smaller and goes to zero. However, it is actually increasing at the start, and
achieves a maximum when n = 4. Hence the biggest sphere is the 4-dimensional
sphere in R5 . Would you have guessed that?