7.

3 Day One: Volumes by Slicing

Little Rock Central High School,

Little Rock, Arkansas
Photo by Vickie Kelly, 2001 Greg Kelly, Hanford High School, Richland, Washington
 Find the volume of the pyramid:
Consider a horizontal slice through
3
the pyramid.
The volume of the slice is s2dh.
If we put zero at the top of the
3 3 pyramid and make down the
positive direction, then s=h.

Vslice  h 2 dh
0
3
3 1 3
h V   h dh  h  9
2
0 3 0
s This correlates with the formula:
dh 1 1
3 V  Bh   9  3  9
3 3 
 Method of Slicing:

1 Sketch the solid and a typical cross section.

2 Find a formula for V(x).

(Note that I used V(x) instead of A(x).)

3 Find the limits of integration.

4 Integrate V(x) to find volume.


A 45o wedge is cut from a cylinder of radius 3 as shown.
Find the volume of the wedge.

You could slice this

y wedge shape several
x ways, but the simplest
cross section is a
rectangle.

If we let h equal the height of the slice then the volume of

 
the slice is: V x  2 y  h  dx
h
Since the wedge is cut at a 45 angle:
o 45o hx
x
Since x  y 9
2 2
y  9  x2

 Even though we
y started with a
x cylinder,  does not
enter the
calculation!

V  x   2 9  x 2  x  dx
3 V  x   2 y  h udx 9  x 2 u  0  9
V  2 x 9  x 2 dx du  2 x dx u  3  0 h  x
0

1 3 9
0 2 2
V    u du 2  u 2 y  9 27
 x 2  18
9 3 0
3 
Cavalieri’s Theorem:
Two solids with equal altitudes and identical parallel cross
sections have the same volume.

Identical Cross Sections