Definition of a Sphere

A sphere is a geometrical figure that is perfectly round, 3-dimensional and circular - like a ball.
Geometrically, a sphere is defined as the set of all points equidistant from a single point in space.
The distance from an outer point to the center of the sphere is the radius(r) and the maximum
straight distance from one side of the sphere to another is the diameter (d).

Properties
A sphere is the geometrical figure that occupies the biggest space, but has the smallest surface
area. In other words, when something needs to be as small as possible but still have a large volume,
it takes the shape of a sphere. That is why a balloon is round when you blow it up. It wants to hold
as much air as possible with the smallest amount of surface. This occurs quite often in nature -
common examples include bubbles and water drops.
The planet Earth is called a spheroid because it is extremely close to being a sphere, but is not
perfectly round. It is elongated a bit at the North and South poles.

Formulas
Here are the most common formulas associated with a sphere:
The volume (V) of a sphere is the amount of 'stuff' that could fit inside the sphere. Usually, when
discussing volume, it is in terms of a liquid or gas. An example would be, 'What is the volume of air
that can fit inside a basketball?' The formula for volume is:
V = (4/3?r^3
Surface area is just what its name implies: it's the area of the surface of an object. So, if you could
cut open the basketball from the previous example and lay its surface out flat, you could see the
surface area? This is useful for determining how much material would be needed to cover the
sphere in question. The formula for surface area is:
SA = 4?r^2

The formula for the equation of a sphere

We can calculate the equation of a sphere using the formula

(x-h)^2+(y-k)^2+(z-l)^2=r^2(x−h)2+(y−k)2+(z−l)2=r2

where (h,k,l)(h,k,l) is the center of the sphere and rr is the radius of the sphere.

To calculate the radius of the sphere, we can use the distance formula

D=\sqrt{\left(x_2-x_1\right)^2+\left(y_2-y_1\right)^2+\left(z_2-z_1\right)^2}D=√(x2−x1)2+(y2−y
1)2+(z2−z1)2

where DD is the length of the radius, (x_1,y_1,z_1)(x1,y1,z1) is one point on the surface of the
sphere and (x_2,y_2,z_2)(x2,y2,z2) is the center of the sphere.
 FORMULA FOR CIRCLE

 Where,

 r denotes the radius of the circle.

 d indicates the diameter of the circle.
 c indicates circumference of the circle.

Formulas Related to Circles

The Circle Formulas are expressed as,

Diameter of a Circle D = 2 × r

Circumference of a Circle C = 2 × π × r

Area of a Circle A = π × r2

Example
Find the equation of the sphere with center (1,1,2)(1,1,2) that passes through the point (2,4,6)(2,4,6).

Since we’re given the center of the sphere in the question, we can plug it into the equation of the
sphere immediately.

(x-1)^2+(y-1)^2+(z-2)^2=r^2(x−1)2+(y−1)2+(z−2)2=r2
We’ll find the radius of the sphere using the distance formula, plugging the point on the surface of
the sphere in for (x_1,y_1,z_1)(x1,y1,z1), and plugging the center of the sphere in for (x_2,y_2,z_2)
(x2,y2,z2).

D=\sqrt{\left(x_2-x_1\right)^2+\left(y_2-y_1\right)^2+\left(z_2-z_1\right)^2}D=√(x2−x1)2+(y2−y
1)2+(z2−z1)2

r=\sqrt{(2-1)^2+(4-1)^2+(6-2)^2}r=√(2−1)2+(4−1)2+(6−2)2

r=\sqrt{1+9+16}r=√1+9+16

r=\sqrt{26}r=√26

Plugging this into our equation, we get

(x-1)^2+(y-1)^2+(z-2)^2=\left(\sqrt{26}\right)^2(x−1)2+(y−1)2+(z−2)2=(√26)2

(x-1)^2+(y-1)^2+(z-2)^2=26(x−1)2+(y−1)2+(z−2)2=26

This is the equation of the sphere. We can also write it as

(x-1)^2+(y-1)^2+(z-2)^2=26(x−1)2+(y−1)2+(z−2)2=26

x^2-2x+1+y^2-2y+1+z^2-4z+4=26x2−2x+1+y2−2y+1+z2−4z+4=26

x^2-2x+y^2-2y+z^2-4z=20x2−2x+y2−2y+z2−4z=20

Remember, using the distance formula to find the radius, we’ll always get a value for rr. But we need
r^2r2 in the equation of the sphere. So we can either

solve for rr, square it, and then substitute for r^2r2 into the equation, or

solve for rr, substitute for rr into the equation, then square it to simplify.

Either way will work, so do the steps in whichever order you prefer.

Let’s try another example when we’re given the expanded form of the equation and we need to find
the center and radius.

How to find the center and radius from the equation of the
sphere
Example
Find the center and radius of the sphere.

x^2+2x+y^2-2y+z^2-6z=14x2+2x+y2−2y+z2−6z=14
 We know we eventually need to change the equation into the standard form of the equation of a
sphere,

(x-h)^2+(y-k)^2+(z-l)^2=r^2(x−h)2+(y−k)2+(z−l)2=r2

In order to do so, we’ll need to complete the square with respect to each variable. Remember that
the process of completing the square requires us to use the coefficient on the first degree term. For
xx that’s 2x2x so the coefficient is 22; for yy that’s -2y−2y so the coefficient is -2−2; for zz that’s
-6z−6z so the coefficient is -6−6. Completing the square tells us that we’ll divide each of those
coefficients by 22, and then take the result that we get and square it. These final values will be what
we add into (and subtract out of) the equation of the sphere.

With respect to xx:

\frac22=122=1, and then 1^2=112=1

With respect to yy:

\frac{-2}{2}=-12−2=−1, and then (-1)^2=1(−1)2=1

With respect to zz:

\frac{-6}{2}=-32−6=−3, and then (-3)^2=9(−3)2=9

Adding each of these values into our equation, and subtracting them out again, we get

\left(x^2+2x+1\right)-1+\left(y^2-2y+1\right)-1+\left(z^2-6z+9\right)-9=14(x2+2x+1)−1+(y2
−2y+1)−1+(z2−6z+9)−9=14

\left(x^2+2x+1\right)+\left(y^2-2y+1\right)+\left(z^2-6z+9\right)=25(x2+2x+1)+(y2−2y+1)+(z2
−6z+9)=25

(x+1)^2+(y-1)^2+(z-3)^2=25(x+1)2+(y−1)2+(z−3)2=25

With our equation in standard form, we can pull out the center point. Remember, the standard form
of a circle is (x-h)^2+(y-k)^2+(z-l)^2=r^2(x−h)2+(y−k)2+(z−l)2=r2, which means that we have to
include a negative sign if we have x+x_1x+x1, y+y_1y+y1, or z+z_1z+z1. The center is at (-1,1,3)
(−1,1,3).

To find the radius, it’s important that we take the square root of the right-hand side, and not just the
full value from the right, since the standard form of the equation of a sphere has r^2r2 on the right-
hand side.

r^2=25r2=25

r=5r=5

To summarize our findings, we can say that the sphere has center (-1,1,3)(−1,1,3) and radius
r=5r=5.