Calculus Concepts

Steps to Finding the Volume of a Solid

1) Graph the region bounded by the given function(s) if the region is not already graphed for
you.

2) Determine where your axis of rotation is on your graph (i.e. on, below, or above the
region).

3) Draw a representative rectangle of the circular cross-section of your solid. This will help
you see your outer and inner radii of your circular cross section.

4) Find the volume of your solid by subtracting the inner volume (the space inside) from
the outer volume (the solid plus the space inside) using the formula

b b

( R ) dx ( r ) dx
2 2

a a

where R is the radius of the outer circle

and r is the radius of the inner circle

5) The outer and inner radii will, most likely, be defined as a function, not as a constant.
Determining what the expressions that represent the radii will depend on where the axis
of rotation is in relation to the where the region is (i.e. on, below, or above the region).

6) Axis of rotation on the region:

If the axis of rotation is the x-axis and the region is also on the x-axis then there is no
space to worry about. However we can still represent the outer radius as R = f ( x) and
the inner radius as r = 0 . Given the graph below, the volume formula looks like:

2 2

( ( f ( x)) ) dx ( (0) ) dx
2 2

0 0
7) Axis of rotation below the region:

If the axis of rotation is below region, then there is space to account for. The equations
for the outer radius and inner radius are

R = upper bound of region axis of rotation

r = lower bound of region axis of rotation

So when the axis of rotation is below the region, we subtract the axis of rotation from the
upper bound of the region to get the outer radius and we subtract the axis of rotation from
the lower bound of the region to get the inner radius. Given the graph below, the volume
formula looks like:

2 2

( ( f ( x) (1)) ) dx ( (0 (1)) ) dx
2 2

0 0
8) Axis of rotation above the region:

If the axis of rotation is above region, then there is space to account for as in step #7.
The equations for the outer radius and inner radius are

R = axis of rotation lower bound

r = axis of rotation upper bound

So when the axis of rotation is above the region, we subtract the lower bound from the
axis of rotation to get the outer radius and we subtract the upper bound from the axis of
rotation to get the inner radius. Given the graph below, the volume formula looks like:

2 2

( (2 0) ) dx ( (2 ( f ( x)) ) dx
2 2

0 0