Arc area of a sphere? (a piece of r^2*sinθ*ΔrΔθΔφ)

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The discussion focuses on deriving the divergence formula in spherical coordinates by calculating the area of curved surfaces on a sphere. The user is specifically interested in finding the area of a surface with a normal vector in the radial direction (+r(hat)) and another surface with a normal vector in the polar direction (+θ(hat)). The user initially miscalculated the area for the polar direction surface due to overlooking the dependence on the angle θ. Accurate computation of these areas is essential for understanding the divergence in spherical coordinates.

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Arc area of a sphere? (a piece of r^2*sinθ*ΔrΔθΔφ)

Hello, this is not a homework question. I'm trying to self-derive the divergence formula in spherical coordinates, and I'm doing this by taking a small arc-volume about the point (r,θ,φ), where r is the radial distance from the origin, θ is the polar angle from the positive z-axis, and φ is the azimuthal angle from the positive x-axis.

Consider a small slab of the sphere about (r,θ,φ). The volume of this small slab is: Δr*(r*Δθ)*(r*sinθ*Δφ). Consider the side of the slab that has the normal vector(to the surface) = +r(hat). How would I find the area of this surface? It is curved in two angles; I have no idea how to compute the area. If someone can show me how to compute this area, it would be greatly appreciated.

I have another area-portion that I can't figure out. Consider the surface with the normal vector = +θ(hat). I initially thought the area to this surface was \frac{1}{2}Δφ*(r+\frac{Δr}{2})2 - \frac{1}{2}Δφ*(r-\frac{Δr}{2})2 = r*Δr*Δφ

But I realized that i forgot the fact that this area will also be dependent upon θ. So can anyone help me out with these two surface areas? Thanks
 
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I edited the post, and now the LaTeX stuff isn't showing up :/. Here it is again, hopefully unbroken this time

\frac{1}{2}Δφ*(r+\frac{Δr}{2})2 - \frac{1}{2}Δφ*(r-\frac{Δr}{2})2 = r*Δr*Δφ
 

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