How to find the surface area of a sphere?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around finding the surface area of a sphere, specifically seeking methods that do not involve calculus. Participants explore geometric and algebraic approaches to derive the formula.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory, Technical explanation, Conceptual clarification, Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • One participant states the formula for the surface area of a sphere as 4 Pi r² but seeks a derivation without calculus.
  • Another participant suggests differentiating the volume formula of a ball with respect to the radius as a potential method.
  • A different participant expresses a preference for a geometric or algebraic demonstration, providing an example involving triangles inscribed in a circle to derive the area of a circle.
  • One participant references Archimedes' method for proving the surface area of a sphere and provides a link for further exploration.
  • Another participant notes that Archimedes' work involved concepts akin to integral calculus, which relates to the calculation of areas under curves.
  • A later reply asserts that determining the area of a curved surface typically requires some limit process, which is fundamentally linked to calculus.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express differing views on the necessity of calculus for deriving the surface area of a sphere, with some advocating for geometric methods while others highlight the limitations of avoiding calculus.

Contextual Notes

Some participants' approaches depend on specific definitions and assumptions about geometric shapes and their properties, and there are unresolved mathematical steps in the proposed methods.

live4physics
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4 Pi r2

I know this formula, but anyone knows, how can I figure out (by methods, algebra) the sphere surface formula ?

Thanks
 
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You might, for example, differentiate the formula for the volume of a ball with respect to the radius.

There are many other ways as well.
 
arildno said:
You might, for example, differentiate the formula for the volume of a ball with respect to the radius.

Sorry, I did not say, but I would like not to use calculus for this, just geometry or algebra for demonstration.

For exemple:
the triangle area is:
[tex]A_{t} = \frac{b h} { 2 }[/tex]
if I put a triangle inside a circle, where the top of it is the centre of circle, and I use infinity number of triangles, and with base near to zero, the sum of all bases is igual [tex]2 r \pi[/tex] and the height will be iqual the radius of circle, then, the area of circle will be the sum of area for all triangles, i.e.,

[tex]A_{c} = \frac{2 r \pi r } { 2 } = \pi r^2[/tex]

Thank you very much.
 
Last edited:
Well, you might have a go at Archimedes' way of proving it, here's a link to a page describing that method:
http://www.maths.uwa.edu.au/~schultz/3M3/L7Archimedes1.html
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Archimedes (although he didn't know it) invented integral calculus to get things like the calculation of pi by taking the limit of areas of regular polygons to get the area of a circle.
 
In general there is no way to determine the area under a curve or of a curved surface without using some kind of limit process, which is at least walking on the boundary of calculus.
 

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