APPLICATIONS OF INTEGRATION

VOLUME OF SOLIDS
 Volume: The Disk Method

Objectives
◼ Find the volume of a solid of revolution using the
disk method.

◼ Find the volume of a solid of revolution using the

washer method.

◼ Find the volume of a solid with known cross sections.

 The Disk Method
If a region in the plane is revolved about a line, the resulting solid is
a solid of revolution, and the line is called the axis of revolution.

The simplest such solid is a right

circular cylinder or disk, which is
formed by revolving a rectangle
about an axis adjacent to one
side of the rectangle,
as shown in Figure 7.13.
 The Disk Method
The volume of such a disk is

V= (area of disk)(width of disk) = πR2w

where R is the radius of the disk and w is the width.
 The Disk Method
Consider a solid of revolution formed by revolving the
plane region in Figure 7.14 about the indicated axis.

Figure 7.14
 The Disk Method
To determine the volume of this solid, consider a representative
rectangle in the plane region. When this rectangle is revolved
about the axis of revolution, it generates a representative disk
whose volume is

Approximating the volume of the solid by n such disks of width

Δx and radius R(xi) produces
Volume of solid ≈
 The Disk Method
This approximation appears to become better and
better
as So, you can define the volume of the
solid as
Volume of solid =

Schematically, the disk method looks like this.

 The Disk Method
A similar formula can be derived if the axis of revolution is
vertical.

Figure 7.15
 Example 1
Find the volume of the solid formed by revolving the region
bounded by the graph of and the x-axis
(0 ≤ x ≤ π) about the x-axis.

Solution:
From the representative
rectangle in the upper graph
in Figure 7.16, you can see that
the radius of this solid is
R(x) = f(x)
Figure 7.16
 Example 1 – Solution cont’d

So, the volume of the solid of revolution is

Example: SPHERES
• Show that the volume of a sphere
• of radius r is
V = r .
4
3
3
• If we place the sphere so that its center is at the origin, then
the plane Px intersects the sphere in a circle whose radius,
from the
• Pythagorean Theorem, is:

y= r −x 2 2

• So, the cross-sectional

• area is:

A( x) =  y =  (r − x )
2 2 2
SPHERES Example 1
• Using the definition of volume with a = -r and
• b = r, we have:

V =  A( x) dx =   ( r − x ) dx
r r
2 2
• −r −r
r (The integrand is even.)
= 2  (r − x ) dx
2 2
0
r
 2 x  3
 3 r  3
= 2  r x −  = 2  r − 
 3 0  3
= r
4
3
3
The Volume of a Cone
Exercises:
The Washer Method
 The Washer Method
The disk method can be extended to cover solids of revolution
with holes by replacing the representative disk with a
representative washer.

The washer is formed by revolving a

rectangle about an axis, as shown
in Figure 7.18.

If r and R are the inner and outer radii

of the washer and w is the width of the
washer, then the volume is given by
Volume of washer = π(R2 – r2)w.
Figure 7.18
 The Washer Method

To see how this concept can be used to find the volume

of a solid of revolution, consider a region bounded by
an outer radius R(x) and an inner radius r(x), as shown
in Figure 7.19.

Figure 7.19
 The Washer Method

If the region is revolved about its axis of revolution, the

volume of the resulting solid is given by

Note that the integral involving the inner radius

represents
the volume of the hole and is subtracted from the
integral
involving the outer radius.
Example 3
Find the volume of the solid formed by revolving the region
bounded by the graphs of about the
x-axis, as shown in Figure 7.20.

Figure 7.20
 Example 3
In Figure 7.20, you can see that the outer and inner radii
are as follows.

Integrating between 0 and 1 produces

 Example 4 – Integrating with Respect to y

Find the volume of the solid formed by revolving the

region bounded by the graphs of y = x2 + 1, y = 0, x = 0,
and x = 1 about y-axis, as shown in Figure 7.21.

Figure 7.21
 Example 4 – Solution
For the region shown in Figure 7.21, the outer radius is
simply R = 1.

There is, however, no convenient formula that

represents the inner radius.

When 0 ≤ y ≤ 1, r = 0, but when 1 ≤ y ≤ 2, r is

determined
by the equation y = x2 + 1, which implies that
 Example 4 cont’d

Using this definition of the inner radius, you can use

two integrals to find the volume.
VOLUMES Example 2
• Find the volume of the solid obtained by
• rotating about the x-axis the region under
• the curve y = x from 0 to 1.

• Illustrate the definition of volume by sketching

• a typical approximating cylinder.
VOLUMES Example 2
• The region is shown in the first figure.
• If we rotate about the x-axis, we get the solid
• shown in the next figure.
• When we slice through the point x, we get a disk
with radius .
x
VOLUMES Example 2
• The area of the cross-section is:

A( x) =  ( x ) =  x
2

• The volume of the approximating cylinder

• (a disk with thickness ∆x) is:

A( x)x =  xx
VOLUMES Example 2
• The solid lies between x = 0 and x = 1.

• So, its volume is: V = A( x)dx


1

=   xdx
1

0
1
x   2
=  =
2 0 2
VOLUMES Example 3

• Find the volume of the solid obtained

• by rotating the region bounded by y = x3,
• Y = 8, and x = 0 about the y-axis.
VOLUMES Example 3
• As the region is rotated about the y-axis, it
• makes sense to slice the solid perpendicular
• to the y-axis and thus to integrate with
• respect to y.

• Slicing at height y,
we get a circular
disk with radius x,
where
x= 3 y
VOLUMES Example 3
• So, the area of a cross-section through y is:

A( y ) =  x =  ( y ) =  y
2 3 2 2/3

• The volume of the approximating

• cylinder is:

A( y )y =  y y 2/3
VOLUMES Example 3
• Since the solid lies between y = 0 and
• y = 8, its volume is:

V =  A( y ) dy
8

=   y dy
8
23
0

 3
5 8
96
= 5 y
3
=
  0 5
VOLUMES Example 4

• The region R enclosed by the curves y = x

• and y = x2 is rotated about the x-axis.

• Find the volume of the resulting solid.

VOLUMES Example 4
• The curves y = x and y = x2 intersect at
• the points (0, 0) and (1, 1).

• The region between them, the solid of rotation, and cross-

section perpendicular to the x-axis are shown.
VOLUMES Example 4
• A cross-section in the plane Px has the shape
• of a washer (an annular ring) with inner
• radius x2 and outer radius x.
VOLUMES Example 4
• Thus, we find the cross-sectional area by
• subtracting the area of the inner circle from
• the area of the outer circle:

A( x) =  x −  ( x )
2 2 2

=  (x − x )
2 4
VOLUMES Example 4
1
• Thus, we have: V =
 0
A( x) dx
1
=   (x 2
− x ) dx
4
0
1
x x  3 5
=  − 
3 5 0
2
=
15
 Solids with Known Cross Sections
With the disk method, you can find the volume of a solid
having a circular cross section whose area is A = πR2.

This method can be generalized to solids of any shape, as

long as you know a formula for the area of an arbitrary
cross section.

Some common cross sections are squares, rectangles,

triangles, semicircles, and trapezoids.
Solids with Known Cross Sections

Figure 7.24
 Example 6 – Triangular Cross Sections
Find the volume of the solid shown in Figure 7.25.
The base of the solid is the region bounded by the lines
and x = 0.

Figure 7.25

The cross sections perpendicular to the x-axis are

equilateral triangles.
 Example 6 – Solution
The base and area of each triangular cross section are
as
follows.
 Example 6 – Solution cont’d

Because x ranges from 0 to 2, the volume of the solid is