Did I make a mistake in this integral?

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SUMMARY

The discussion centers on a common mistake made during the evaluation of the integral for calculating the surface area of a solid of revolution. The integral in question is $$I=\pi \int \sqrt{64-3x^2}\,dx$$, which involves a trigonometric substitution. The error identified was in the manipulation of the integrand, specifically in factoring out constants incorrectly, leading to an answer that was off by a factor of 3. The correct approach involves recognizing the proper form of the integrand after substitution.

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Dethrone
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I'm really exhausted mentally, so it'll be really helpful if someone can tell me where I made a mistake. I'm rotating surfaces, and with that, I had to solve this integral:

$$=\pi \int \sqrt{64-3x^2} dx$$
$$=\frac{\pi}{\sqrt{3}} \int \sqrt{\frac{64}{3}-x^2} dx$$

Let $$x = \frac{8}{\sqrt{3}} sin\left({\theta}\right) d\theta$$
$$dx = \frac{8}{\sqrt{3}} cos\left({\theta}\right) d\theta$$

=$$\frac{8\pi }{3} \int \cos^2\left({\theta}\right) (\frac{8}{\sqrt{3}}) d\theta$$

Have I made a mistake already?
 
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As a quick first thought, are you using the disk method, and as such, should the integrand be squared?
 
I'm calculating surface area, so I'm rotating the line across. The problem basically boils down to what I have above, and I know I'm right up to this point. I know I messed up this integral somehow, but I'm so tired that I don't know how. I've done hundreds of trig. substitution questions, not sure what I'm stuck on this one. My answer is off by a factor of 3, so I want to check my process.
 
I guess I could type out more steps, but my brain isn't cooperating with me.

After:

$$=\frac{64 \pi}{3\sqrt{3}} \int \frac{1}{2} (1+\cos\left({2\theta}\right) d\theta$$
$$=\frac{64 \pi}{6\sqrt{3}} (\theta + \frac{1}{2} \sin\left({2\theta}\right)) $$
$$=\frac{64 \pi}{6\sqrt{3}} (\theta + \sin\left({\theta}\right)\cos\left({\theta}\right)) $$

The original question is "revolve $\frac{x^2}{16} + \frac{y^2}{4} = 1$ about the x-axis", but I've left out the bounds, etc because my mistake is the integral.

$$S=2 \pi \int_{-4}^{4} y\sqrt{1+(\d{y}{x})^2} \,dx $$
 
Last edited:
Ah, yes, I see you stated you are finding a surface of rotation...sorry for not reading thoroughly. :D

So, you begin with:

$$I=\pi\int\sqrt{64-3x^2}\,dx$$

I would let:

$$x=\frac{8}{\sqrt{3}}\sin(\theta)\,\therefore\,dx=\frac{8}{\sqrt{3}}\cos(\theta)\,d\theta$$

And so we now have:

$$I=\frac{64\pi}{\sqrt{3}}\int\cos^2(\theta)\,d\theta$$

This is indeed 3 times greater than what you stated. Do you see your error in the first step you made in the first post?
 
My head is so fried right now, but I found my mistake.

It should be this:
$$\sqrt{3(\frac{64}{3}-x^2})=\sqrt{3}\sqrt{\frac{64}{3}-x^2}$$

I was trying to factor out 3, but instead, I did something quite careless...(Rofl) I knew it was a dumb mistake from the start...(Crying)
 

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