2.

2 Volume by Slicing: Solids of Revolution

A.3 Use integrals to compute volume by the disk/washer method.

Recall: We can compute volume by slicing using the following integrals:

Z b Z b
V = A(x) dx V = A(y) dy
a a

• slices are perpendicular to the • slices are perpendicular to the

• A(x) is the • A(y) is the

at a point x along the x-axis at a point y along the y-axis

Today: Solids are created by rotating regions around an axis. The slices are .

p
Example: Rotate the region under the graph of y = 9 x2 about the x-axis. What is the
resulting shape? How can we compute its volume?
p
3 y= 9 x2

2
1

3 2 1 1 2 3
1
2
3

Question: What are some other solids that can be described as solids of revolution?
The Disk Method:
Rotating the region under y = f (x) between x = a and x = b about the x-axis:

Rotating the region under x = g(y) between y = c and y = d about the y-axis:

Example 1: Set up an integral giving the volume of a cone of radius r = 3 and length ` = 6
x
obtained by rotating the region under y = over [0, 6] about the x-axis.
2

Example 2: Find the volume of the solid obtained by rotation the region bounded in the first
quadrant by y = x2 , x = 0, and y = 4 about the y-axis.

2
Question: What if the region we are rotating is not bounded by the axis of rotation? In other
words, what if our region is between two curves?
p
Example: Recall the region bounded by y = 2 x and y = 2x2 .

2 Imagine rotating this region about the x-axis.

1.5 What do the slices perpendicular to the x-axis look like?
1

0.5

0 0.5 1

How can we find the area of such slices?

The total volume of the solid you get by rotating the region about the x-axis can be computed as:

The Washer Method:

Rotating the region bounded by y = f (x) and y = g(x) between x = a and x = b about the x-axis:

Rotating the region bounded by x = f (y) and x = g(y) between y = c and y = d about the y-axis:

e
 Practice Problems

x2
Sketch a graph of y = +1 and y = 5 x. Then 6
2
shade in the region enclosed by these curves and 5
the y-axis in the first quadrant. 4
3
2
1

2 1 1 2 3 4

Consider the solids obtained by rotating the region sketched above about each of the following
axes. Identify whether you should slice along the x- or the y-axis and whether slices are disks or
washers. Then set up, but do not evaluate, an integral that would give the volume.

1. the x-axis

2. the y-axis

3. the line x = 2

4. the line y = 6