0.

1 Practical Guide - Surface Integrals

Surface integral,means to integrate over a surface.
We begin with the study of surfaces.
The easiest way is to give as many familiar examples as possible
1) a plane surface
any plane is completely dened by
- 3 points (belonging to that plane),
( when the 3 points represent the intersections of the plane with Or, Oj, O. , then we have an easy drawing)
x
y
z
A (a,0,0)
A (0,b,0)
C (0,0,c)
- the "normal" to the plane and one point (belonging to the plane) , let the normal unit vector be

: = (a, /, c)
and (r
0
, j
0
, .
0
) a point that belongs to the plane.
1
O
M (x,y,z)
A(xo,yo,zo)
y
x
z
n
the normal vector

: is orthogonal on every vector in the plane, we use the scalar product

: l

' = <

: ,

' =

:

' = 0 = (a, /, c) (r r
0
, j j
0
, . .
0
) = 0
ar + /j + c. + (ar
0
/j
0
c.
0
)
. .
d
= 0 = ar + /j + c. + d = 0
- 2 vectors in the plane and one point (belonging to the plane), let

n ,

be 2 (linearly independent) vectors

in the plane and (r
0
, j
0
, .
0
) a point that belongs to the plane. We use the vector product (cross product) to get a
vector normal to the plane, since

n ,

n

consequently apply the previous computation with

: =

2) a cylinder , we consider a simple case, the cylinder is orthogonal on the rOj plane, has radius = r and its
axis is O.
2
y
x
z
the projection of the cylinder onto the rOj plane is clearly
- a circle ( for a circular cylinder), which equation is r
2
+ j
2
= r
2
- an ellipse ( for an elliptical cylinder) which equation is
x
2
a
2
+
y
2
b
2
= 1
x x
y
y
r
a
b
this explains why in many text books you will nd the "equation" of such a cylinder as
r
2
+ j
2
= r
2
or
r
2
a
2
+
j
2
/
2
= 1
which is a bit confusing, since these are equations for a circle or an ellipse.
Actually the "full" equation of such a cylinder is
r
2
+ j
2
= r
2
and . R or
r
2
a
2
+
j
2
/
2
= 1 and . R
3
4) a cone, we consider a simple case, the axis of the cone is O. and it is circular or elliptical, the equation is
.
2
= a
2
(r
2
+ j
2
) or .
2
=
r
2
a
2
+
j
2
/
2
x
y
z
3) a sphere or an ellipsoid centered at the origin (0, 0, 0)
x
x
z
z
y y a
b
c
r
r
r
the equations are
r
2
+ j
2
+ .
2
= r
2
or
r
2
a
2
+
j
2
/
2
+
.
2
c
2
= 1
4) a paraboloid ( circular, elliptical, ...) in a simple case, with axis O.
4
x
y
z
the equations are
. = a
2
(r
2
+ j
2
) or . =
r
2
a
2
+
j
2
/
2
Do we have to memorise all these equations ? No ! We have two easy problems.
i) what kind of surface does an equation represent ?
ii) what is the equation for a surface dened by its geometric properties ?
Both problems are easily solved by cutting (intersecting) the surface with horizontal planes and with the "ver-
tical" plane jO.
Examples.
1. What kind of surface represents the equation . = 4(r
2
+ j
2
) ?
Cut the surface with horizontal planes, that is . =constant= c
2
, since in this case . _ 0
we get 4(r
2
+ j
2
) = c
2
= r
2
+ j
2
=
_
c
2
_
2
which are clearly circles, "located" at . = c
2
, the greater is . ,
the greater the radius of these (horizontal) circles
5
x
y
z
now cut the surface with the jO. plane, whose equation is r = 0 , put r = 0 in . = 4(r
2
+ j
2
) , we get
. = 4j
2
which is clearly a parabola in the jO. plane
y
z z = 4y
nally the surface is "generated" by all these (horizontal) circles along a parabola, and we get a circular
paraboloid
6
x
y
z
2. what kind of surface represents the equation .
2
= 4(r
2
+ j
2
) ?
cut the surface with horizontal planes, that is . =constant= c ,
we get 4(r
2
+ j
2
) = c
2
= r
2
+ j
2
=
_
c
2
_
2
which are clearly (horizontal) circles
x
y
z
now cut the surface with the jO. plane, whose equation is r = 0 , put r = 0 in .
2
= 4(r
2
+ j
2
) , we get
.
2
= 4j
2
= .
2
4j
2
= 0 = (. 2j)(. + 2j) = 0 = . 2j = 0 or . + 2j = 0
which are clearly the equations of two straight lines in the jO. plane
7
z = 2y
z = - 2y
y
z
nally the surface is "generated" by all these (horizontal) circles along (between) two straght lines, and we get
a cone
y
x
z
Now for the converse problem, how to determine the equation of a surface dened by its geometric properties
we proceed somehow "backwards" as before.
Examples.
8
3. a sphere centered at (a, /, c) with radius r . All the points (r, j, .) on the sphere have a constant distance
= r to the center (a, /, c) , which leads to
distance =
_
(r a)
2
+ (j /)
2
+ (. c)
2
= r = (r a)
2
+ (j /)
2
+ (. c)
2
= r
2
4. A circular cone with axis O. . We need just the radius of one horizontal circle, say r = 2 and the corresponding
. = 3 , we get the "cut" (intersection) with the jO. plane, as two straight lines . =
3
2
j , . =
3
2
j ,
r = 2
z = 3
y
z
z = (3/2)y z = - (3/2)y
which means that for r = 0 the equation of the cone should be
(.
3
2
j)( . +
3
2
j) = 0 = .
2

9
4
j
2
= 0 = 4.
2
= 9j
2
since by cutting with horizontal planes ( . =constant ) we get circles, the "full" equation of the cone should be
9(r
2
+ j
2
) = 4.
2
Now we get to "parametrized" surfaces. In simple words, it means we dene a surface using two coordinates
(variables), that is we "map" the surface onto a plane surface (the "space" of the coordinates)
To get a better idea, think of the surface of the Earth and the "geographic" coordinates : longitude and latitude.
They "map" the (curved) surface of the Earth onto a "plane" , (actually the map from a geographic atlas) dened
by the two coordinates.
The "standard" denition is the following.
Denition. A function (correspondence, map) / : 1 R
2
o R
3
as /(n, ) = (r(n, ), j(n, ), .(n, ))
or
r = r(n, ) j = j(n, ) . = .(n, )
is called a parametrization of the surface o , or o is a parametrized surface .
We assume the function / to be injective (one to one).
Also to be of class C
1
, that is, it has partial derivatives which are continuous.
9
Also "nonsingular", that is, the Jacobi matrix has rank 2 at every point (n, )
ra:/
_
_
@x
@u
@x
@v
@y
@u
@y
@v
@z
@u
@z
@v
_
_
= 2
It looks a bit complicated, but actually simple enough.
Comments.
We clearly need "one to one", every point on the surface (r, j, .) o should have its own coordinates, they
should not "overlap".
Remember a parametrized path
y
z
x
(t)
(t)
: [a, /] R
3
, (t) = (r(t), j(t), .(t)) is the "position" vector, and by taking the derivatives

0
(t) = (r
0
(t), j
0
(t), .
0
(t)) is the "velocity" vector, which is tangent to the path.
Now for a parametrized surface, we have a "similar" situation.
Let

r = (r, j, .) be the "position" vector.

r = (r, j, .) = r

i + j

, + .

/ = (r(n, ) , j(n, ) , .(n, ))

10
x
y
z
ru
rv
ru x rv
S
The plane which is tangent to the surface is dened by two vectors, the "two" partial derivatives, with respect
to n and

r
u
= (
0r
0n
,
0j
0n
,
0.
0n
) ,

r
v
= (
0r
0
,
0j
0
,
0.
0
)
To actually dene a plane these two vectors should be "linearly independent", which means their matrix has
rank 2
ra:/
_
_
@x
@u
@x
@v
@y
@u
@y
@v
@z
@u
@z
@v
_
_
= 2
And this is how we get the denition as stated before. Clearly the vector product

r
u

r
v
is orthogonal to the
tangent plane, thus a normal direction.
We should also add that 1 R
2
is a "domain" , that is every point (c, ,) 1 is "surounded" by an open disk
(c, ,) (n c)
2
+ ( ,)
2
< r 1
Each surface has innitely many parametrizations.
In the following we basically consider just two kinds of parametrizations:
- projecting on the planes rOj , or rO. , or jOr , which works for almost all surfaces in "school" problems
- using spherical coordinates for a sphere or an ellipsoid
To better understand, consider the surfaces we already studied in the begining.
Denition. Now we clearly state: the domains o and 1 are bounded . The function ) : o R , is a continuous
function on a neiborhood of o
The "standard" notation for surface integral is
__
S
)(r, j, .)d: or
__

)(r, j, .)do or
_

)(r, j, .)do
for the constant function 1 the surface integral represents the area of the surface
)(r, j, .) = 1 for all (r, j, .) o , the "area" arca(o) =
__
S
1d:
11
and nally the surface integral is reduced to a double integral
__
S
)(r, j, .)d: =
__
D
)(r(n, ), j(n, ), .(n, )) |

r
u

r
v
| dnd
The value of the integral does not depend on the parametrization.
Comments.
To compute a surface integral we basically need to
- nd a suitable parametrization,
- determine the domain 1 ,
- compute |

r
u

r
v
|
Case I. The surface is "projectable" onto one of the planes rOj , rO. or jO. , that is the projection is a
"one to one" function.
Projecting the surface onto the rOj plane. (Whenever this is possible)
Let 1 R
2
be the projection of o on the plane rOj . An easy way to get the projection is to set . = 0 in the
equation dening the surface (whenever this equation is given)
Then o = (r, j, .) R
3
, (r, j) 1 , . = .(r, j)
The surface is parametrized as 1 (r, j) (r, j, .(r, j)) o
(we actually identify R
2
with the rOj plane by (r, j) (r, j, 0) )
D
S
y
z
x
(x,y,0)
z = z(x,y)
(x,y,z(x,y))
In this case

r = (r, j, .) = (r, j, .(r, j)) and we take derivatives with respect to r and j

r
x
=
0
0r
(r, j, .(r, j)) = (1, 0,
0.
0r
) ,

r
y
=
0
0j
(r, j, .(r, j)) = (0, 1,
0.
0j
)
and the vector product is

r
x

r
y
=

i

,

/
1 0
@z
@x
0 1
@z
@y

= (
0.
0r
)

i (
0.
0j
)

, + (1)

/ =
_

0.
0r
,
0.
0j
, 1
_
12
and the norm is
|

r
x

r
y
| =
_
_

0.
0r
_
2
+
_

0.
0j
_
2
+ 1
2
=
_
_
0.
0r
_
2
+
_
0.
0j
_
2
+ 1
and nally the surface integral computes as
__
S
)(r, j, .)d: =
__
D
)(r, j, .(r, j)) |

r
x

r
y
| drdj =
__
D
)(r, j, .(r, j))
_
1 +
_
0.
0r
_
2
+
_
0.
0j
_
2
drdj
we denitely may use the nal formula directly any time we need.
Remark.
A simple question rises naturally. If the surface o is a plane surface o in the rOj plane, is there any dierence
between the surface integral and the double integral ?
x
y
z
S
The answer is No ! No dierence at all.
In this case the projection of o onto the plane rOj is o itself, the surface is parametrized as (r, j)
(r, j, 0) o , therefore . = .(r, j) = 0 is a constant function and the derivatives are null
0.
0r
= 0 ,
0.
0j
= 0
consequently the surface intergal computes as
__
S
)(r, j, .)d: =
__
S
)(r, j, .)drdj
and the surface intergal turns out to be exactly a double integral.
The same happens if o is a plane surface parallel to the rOj plane, dened by . = c =constant. Again the
partial derivaties are null
0.
0r
= 0 ,
0.
0j
= 0
The cases when the surface is projectable onto the rO. or jO. planes are similar.
Examples.
1) Compute the area of the hemisphere o = (r, j, .) R
3
, r
2
+ j
2
+ .
2
= 1
2
, . _ 0
This surface is projectable onto the rOj plane and the projection is the disc 1 = r
2
+ j
2
_ 1
2
( for . = 0 )
You should notice that this hemisphere is not projectable onto the planes rO. or
From the equation of the surface r
2
+ j
2
+ .
2
= 1
2
we get . = .(r, j) =
_
1
2
r
2
j
2
, (r, j) 1
13
x
y
z
R
R
z = sqrt(R-x-y)
(x,y,0)
"sqrt" stands for "square root" , . =
_
1
2
r
2
j
2
, because some graphic facilities are not installed yet.
Clearly we have
. = .(r, j) =
_
1
2
r
2
j
2
,
0.
0r
=
r
_
1
2
r
2
j
2
,
0.
0j
=
j
_
1
2
r
2
j
2
The hemisphere projects onto the rOj plane into the disk 1 = (r, j, 0) R
3
, r
2
+ j
2
_ 1
2

D
x
y
R
R
t
14
and the area is
arca(o) =
__
S
1d: =
__
D
_
1 +
_
0.
0r
_
2
+
_
0.
0j
_
2
drdj =
__
D
_
1 +
r
2
1
2
r
2
j
2
+
j
2
1
2
r
2
j
2
drdj =
=
__
D
_
1
2
1
2
r
2
j
2
drdj = 1
__
D
1
_
1
2
r
2
j
2
drdj =
use now polar coordinates to compute the double integral r = r cos t , j = r sint
in order to cover the disc 1 we need t [0, 2] and r [0, 1] , so nally we get
= 1
R
_
0
_
_
2
_
0
1
_
1
2
r
2
rdt
_
_
dr = 21
R
_
0
1
_
1
2
r
2
rdr = 21
_

_
1
2
r
2

r=R
r=0
_
= 21
_
1
2
= 21
2
which is indeed the area of an emisphere with radius = 1 .
2) Compute the area of the surface o = (r, j, .) 1
3
, . = r
2
+ j
2
_ 4 , (a piece from a paraboloid)
This a paraboloid. By projecting it on the rOj plane we get a disk 1 = (r, j, 0) R
3
, r
2
+ j
2
_ 4 ,
centered at (0, 0, ) with radius 2 ( for . = 0 )
The partial derivatives are
. = .(r, j) = r
2
+ j
2
,
0.
0r
= 2r ,
0.
0j
= 2j
The area of o is
arca(o) =
__
S
1d: =
__
D
_
1 +
_
0.
0r
_
2
+
_
0.
0j
_
2
drdj =
__
D
_
1 + (2r)
2
+ (2j)
2
drdj =
= 2
__
D
_
1 + r
2
+ j
2
drdj =
next we use polar coordinates to compute the double integral r = r cos t , j = r sint , and we need t [0, 2]
and r [0, 1] to cover the disk, so nally we get
= 2
2
_
0
_
_
2
_
0
_
1 + r
2
rdt
_
_
dr = 4
2
_
0
_
1 + r
2
rdr = 4
_
1 + r
2

r=2
r=0
= 4(
_
5 1)
3) Compute the area of the surface o which is the portion from the hemisphere r
2
+ j
2
+ .
2
= 4 , . _ 0
"cut" by the cylinder (r, j, .) R
3
, r
2
+ j
2
= 2r , . R .
15
x
z
y
S
D
2
This surface o is projectable on the plane rOj and the projection is the disc 1 = (r, j) R
2
, r
2
+ j
2
_ 2r
centered at (1, 0) and radius = 1, since
r
2
+ j
2
_ 2r = r
2
2r + 1 + j
2
_ 1 = (r 1)
2
+ j
2
_ 1
and we may dene the surface o as follows
o = (r, j, .) R
3
, (r, j) 1 , . = .(r, j) =
_
4 r
2
j
2
.
Consequently the projection of the surface o is a "smaller" disk, centered at (1, 0) , tangent to Oj and to the
circle r
2
+ j
2
= 4
16
y
x
D
2
Consequently we get
0.
0r
=
r
_
4 r
2
j
2
,
0.
0j
=
j
_
4 r
2
j
2
arca(o) =
__
S
1d: =
__
D
_
1 +
_
0.
0r
_
2
+
_
0.
0j
_
2
drdj =
__
D

_
1 +
_
r
_
4 r
2
j
2
_
2
+
_
j
_
4 r
2
j
2
_
2
=
=
__
D
_
1 +
r
2
+ j
2
4 r
2
j
2
drdj =
__
D
2
_
4 r
2
j
2
drdj =
then use polar coordinates r r cos t , r = r sint to compute the double integral
the equation of the disc 1 in polar coordinates is r
2
_ 2r cos t = r _ 2 cos t , so cos t _ 0 = t [

2
,

2
]
and 0 _ r _ 2 cos t
arca(o) = ... =

2
_

2
_
_
2 cos t
_
0
2
_
4 r
2
rdr
_
_
dt =

2
_

2
_
(2)
_
4 r
2

r=2 cos t
r=0
_
dt =
=

2
_

2
2
_
2
_
4 4 cos
2
t
_
dt = 4

2
_

2
_
1
_
sin
2
t
_
dt = 4

2
_

2
(1 [sint[) dt =
= 4 4
0
_

2
sintdt 4

2
_
0
sintdt = 4 4 cos t[
0

2
4 (cos t)[

2
0
= 4 4 4 = 4 8
Case II. Using spherical coordinates
The parametrization of a piece of a sphere centered at (0, 0, 0) with radius 1 is
r = r(0, ,) = 1cos ,sin0 , j = j(0, ,) = 1sin,sin0 , . = .(0, ,) = 1cos 0
17
x
y
z

R
R
the partial derivatives are

=
_
0r
00
,
0j
00
,
0.
00
_
= (1cos ,cos 0, 1sin,cos 0, 1sin0)

r
'
=
_
0r
0,
,
0j
0,
,
0.
0,
_
= (1sin,sin0, 1cos ,sin0, 0)

r
'
=

i

,

/
1cos ,cos 0 1sin,cos 0 1sin0
1sin,sin0 1cos ,sin0 0

=
=

1sin,cos 0 1sin0
1cos ,sin0 0

1cos ,cos 0 1sin0

1sin,sin0 0

, +

1cos ,cos 0 1sin,cos 0

1sin,sin0 1cos ,sin0

/ =
= 1
2
sin0
_
_
cos ,sin0, sin,sin0, cos
2
,cos 0 + sin
2
,cos 0
. .
cos
_
_
= 1
2
sin0 (cos ,sin0, sin,sin0, cos 0)
|

r

r
'
| = 1
2
sin0
_
(cos ,sin0)
2
+ (sin,sin0)
2
+ (cos 0)
2
= 1
2
sin0
_
(cos
2
, + sin
2
,
. .
) sin
2
0 + cos
2
0 = 1
2
sin0
and the surface integral becames
__
S
)(r, j, .)d: =
__
D
)(1cos ,sin0, 1sin,sin0, 1cos 0 )1
2
sin0d0d,
All we need to remember, are the spherical coordinates and the fact that |

r
'
| = 1
2
sin0
Examples.
4) Compute the area of the sphere o = (r, j, .) R
3
, r
2
+ j
2
+ .
2
= 1
2
, using spherical coordinates.
To cover the whole (surface) sphere we clearly need , 0 [0, ] , , [0, 2]
18
arca(o) =
__
S
1d: =
__
[0;][0;2]
1 |

r
'
| d0d, =
=

_
0
_
_
2
_
0
1
2
sin0d,
_
_
d0 = 21
2

_
0
sin0d0 = 21
2
( cos 0[

0
) = 21
2
(cos + cos 0) = 41
2
5) Compute the area of the surface o from the sphere (r, j, .) R
3
, r
2
+ j
2
+ .
2
= 8 that is located
"inside" the cone .
2
= r
2
+ j
2
.
x
y
z

R
R
We use spherical coordinates.
Clearly the angle , goes all around the O. axis, that is , [0, 2] . The radius is 1 = 2
_
2
We need to nd out the extent of the angle 0 . Find the intersection between the sphere and the cone
_
r
2
+ j
2
+ .
2
= 8
.
2
= r
2
+ j
2
= , 2.
2
= 8 = . = 2
Therefore we have O = 2
_
2 , 1 = 2 , sin0 =
2
2
p
2
=
1
p
2
= 0 =

4
19
y
z

O C
A
B
Finally the area of the surface "o" is
arca(o) =
__
S
1d: =
__
[0;

4
][0;2]
1 |

r
'
| d0d, =
__
[0;

4
][0;2]
1
2
sin0d0d, =
=
=4
_
0
_
_
2
_
0
1
2
sin0d,
_
_
d0 = 21
2
=4
_
0
sin0d0 = 21
2
_
cos 0[
==4
=0
_
= 21
2
(1
1
_
2
)
20