Chapter 1 - Measurement

Problem 8
Question
The standard kilogram is in the shape of a circular cylinder with its height
equal to its diameter. Show that, for a circular cylinder of fixed volume, this
equality gives the smallest surface area, thus minimizing the effects of surface
contamination and wear.

Answer
We know that the volume of a cylinder is V = 2πhr2 , where h is the height of the
cylinder, and r is the radius. Given fixed volume, we can then set h = V /πr2 .
The surface area is
A = 2πhr + 2πr2 = 2πr(h + r).
Using our h above and plugging in, we get

A = 2(V /r + πr2 ).

If we take the first derivative of A with respect to r, set this to zero and solve,
we find that
2πr3 = V.
Plugging this V back into our h equation, we get the relation:

h = 2r,

which proves what we want, since the diameter is 2r.