Minimization of amount of material in plastic bottle

Mathematics Internal Assessment

Table of contents

Introduction and Rationale ---------------------------------------- 3

Aim and Methodology ---------------------------------------- 3

Accessing Cyclindrical products --------------------------------------- 4

- Application 1

- Application 2

Accessing Conical products ---------------------------------------- 7

- Application 1

- Application 2

Accessing special product ( water bottle ) ---------------------------- 10

Evaluation and conclusion ---------------------------------------------- 14

Introduction and Rationale

Today, most of the cafeteria and restaurants choose to provide plastic bottles for
customers. However, after the usage of plastic bottles, the plastic waste is disposable,
and every year about 8 million tons of plastic waste escape into the ocean and requires
400 years to breakdown.
Therefore, it is clear that we need to avoid using plastic material, or at least use less of
them. I hope that through this IA paper, it is possible to find a way to change this
situation, even it’s in small steps.

Aim and methodology

In this investigation, The aim will be using the mathematical ideas to minimize the surface
area of the bottle, while the volume of the bottle remains the same. In this way, there will
be less plastic being used during the process. The method we will use is the constrained
optimization concepts to derive relations between the dimensions for surface area to be
minimized. Later on, we also will use real life example, the plastic coffee cup in random
cafeteria to further calculate and find the optimal answer. Other than that, the straw being
used will also be counted into calculation.

symbol Quantity represent

r radius
ropt Optimized radius
h height
hopt Optimized height
V volume
S Surface area
Sopt Optimum surface area
Assessing cylindrical products

The formula for a cylinder is shown below:

Cylinder :
V=πr2h
S=2πrh+2πr2 ( h, r are positive real number )

Therefore, if we want to calculate how to obtain the smallest surface area of the plastic
bottle under the same volume, we need to build a connection between V and S. Clearly,
by replacing h in terms of V would be a great idea.

Re-arranging Eqn1.1 to express h in terms of V:

V
π�2
h=

Differentiating surface area equation with respect to r:

dS 2�
( )= n·
d � �−1
푑� �2
= 4πr - ( power rule :
푑
)

Equating derivative to zero to determine the critical points as the surface area is
maximum/minimum at critical points

2�
�2
4πr - =0

V= 2π�3 at optimum ( Rearranged for V )

This condition V= 2��� expresses volume in terms of optimal radius.

However, when the differentiation equals to zero, it’s necessary to verify whether it
implies for the minimum point or the maximum point,

There are two ways to verify that.

First off, if we apply the function into GDC, by depicting the graph, it is clearly shown that
the curve is concave up, with a minimum point. ( V is positive real numbers and so is r )

In another way, we can verify it through using the second derivative,

Verifying that the surface area is a minima for this condition V= 2��� by using

second derivative,

d2S 2v
푑�2 �3
= 4π+
d2S 2(2π�3 )
푑�2 �3
= 4π+ = 4π+8π
d2 S
푑�2
= 12π
Since the second derivative is greater than 0, surface area is minimum in V=2πr3opt
Therefore, the relationship between h and r will be
Hopt =2ropt
Hence, it can be concluded that the minimized surface area exists when height equals to
the diameter of the circular base of the cylinder.

Application --- plastic water bottle

The plastic water bottle is shown below:

Radius= 4.00cm
Height= 11.94cm
Volume= 600ml

Figure 1: plastic bottle

Using condition 1.1 and 1.2,

V=2πr3opt
600 1/3
2π
( ) = ropt

ropt = 4.57 cm
In order to obtain the minimum surface area, that the surface area of the plastic bottle
should be S=2πrh+2πr2, we need firstly calculate the height.

The height can be calculated through Hopt =2ropt

Therefore, the optimum value for height will be 9.14 cm.

Consequently, the optimum ( minimum ) surface area would be:

Sopt = 2πrh+2πr2
Sopt = 2π（4.57） （9.14）+2π（4.57）2
Sopt = 393.671 cm2

Comparing to the original surface area:

Sori= 2πrh+2πr2
Sori= 2π（4） （11.94）+2π（4）2
Sori= 400.616 cm2

Sori -Sopt = 400.616 - 393.671= 6.945 cm2

Note:
The result may not be accurate enough, because during the measurement, the ruler may
not be accurate enough. Plus, during the calculation, there would be negligible difference,
because the value ( like radius and height ) is rounded to 3 significant figures in the above
calculations.
Assessing conical products:

The formula for a cylinder is shown below:

Cone :
1
3
V= πr2h

S=πrt+πr2

( h, r, t are positive real number; t= �2 + ℎ2 refers to the slant height, the big S in the

graph below. ( Pythagoras theorem ))

Re-arranging Eqn1.1 to express h in terms of V:

3V
π�2
h=

(3V) 2
�2 +
(π�2)2
t=
Using the previous equations to substitute t to express S in terms of r and h only.

S=πrt+πr2

S=πr �2 + ℎ2 +πr2

(3V) 2
S=πr �2 +
(π�2)2
+πr2 ( substitute t with previous equation )

S=πr �2 +
9�2
π2 �4
+πr2

π2 �6 +9�2 +πr3
�
S= ( Take r as base, simplified )

Differentiating surface area equation with respect to r:

( quotient rule )

*Easy way: Applying it into the GDC calculator:

푑 π2 �6 +9�2 +πr3 − π2 �6 +9�2 3π2 r4

푑�
( �
)=
�2 π2 �6 +9�2
+ + 2πr

Equating this derivative to 0 to determine max/ min.

− π2 �6 +9�2 3π2r4
�2 π2 �6 +9�2
+ + 2πr = 0

2πr3 ( π2 �6 +9�2 + πr3 )−9V2

�2 π2 �6 +9�2
= 0 ( change to the same base)

9V2 = 2πr3 ( π2�6 + 9�2 + πr3) ( shift to the right )

- πr3 = π2�6 + 9�2

9V2
2π�3

( - πr3 )2 = π2 �6 + 9�2
9V2
2π�3

+ π2�6 - = π2 �6 + 9�2
81V4 9V2 π�3
4π2 �6 π�3
 81V4
18�2 =
4π2�6

8π2�6
9
V=

Verifying that the surface area is a minima for this condition by using GDC:

It is clearly shown that the curve is concave up, with a minimum point. ( V is positive real
numbers and so is r )
Application --- plastic water bottle (extension)

The plastic water bottle is shown below:

In this case, as you can see here, the water bottle does not have a definite shape. Instead,
it is the combination of the conical and the cylindral shape. ( regardless of the topping,
which will be illustrated in the evaluation part. ) Therefore, we can calculate its minimum
surface area through dividing the bottle into 2 forms : cone and cylinder.
The height of the bottle : 21.2 cm
Cylinder height： 8.40 cm
Cone height：13.8 cm
Radius: 3.20 cm
Volume in total : 550ml
The volume ratio between the Cone and Cylinder can be estimated:

1
3
Cone: V= πr2h

V= 147.982

Cylinder: V=πr2h
V= 270.227

Note: the reason why the volume in total does not equal to the actual volume is because
that we suppose the bottle is made from cone and cylinder, while omiting the topping
value and that the actual shape may not be ideal. In addition, the measurement is also
not accurate enough.

Therefore, we propose to use the ratio between the volume of these 2 sectors and do
further calculus.

Vcone : Vcylinder = 74 : 135

Therefore :
the ideal volume for Vcone will be 194.74 cm3
The ideal volume for Vcylinder will be 355.26 cm3

Using the formula for used surface area of cylindrical segment and applying this
into for the volume .

Sused (Cylinder)=2πr2 +2πrh= 233.23 cm2

Sused (Cone)= π �2 + ℎ2 r+πr2 = 174.58 cm2

Stotal = 407.81 cm2

Using the derivative condition for optimal surface area for both cylinder and cone
and applying these condition in radius and height.

1) For cylinder:

Sopt exists for V=2πr3opt

ropt = 3.50 cm
Hopt = 2ropt =7.00cm

Therefore, Sopt exists as 2πrh+2πr2 = 230.97 cm2

2) For cone:
9�2
8π
Sopt exists for ropt=( )1/6
ropt= 4.46 cm
3�
πr2
Hopt = =7.10 cm

Therefore, Sopt exists as π �2 + ℎ2 r+πr2 as 169.972cm2

Total Sw=407.81- 400.94= 6.87 cm2

Evaluation

In the implementation of the method, there are a few points of error.

1. Measurement of the data is not accurate enough, may be derived from human errror
2. The estimation of the water bottle shape regardless of the topping and the shape is
not precisely shown as cylinder and cone, which may contribute to non-neglible error.

Benefits:
However, overall there are quite a lot benefits derived from this research, for instance:
1. Less packaging , material needed, contributing less waste
2. Minimize the space for packaging

Disadvantage:
1. Packaging may not be pretty enough.
2. Sometimes the water bottle needs extra surface area/ material to help the
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