Solve Polar Integrals - Math Help

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Homework Help Overview

The discussion revolves around solving polar integrals, specifically focusing on the limits of integration and the setup of the integrals for a given region. Participants are examining the implications of the polar coordinates and the geometric interpretation of the region described.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory, Assumption checking, Problem interpretation

Approaches and Questions Raised

  • Participants are discussing the determination of limits for polar integrals and questioning the validity of negative radii. There are attempts to clarify the geometric representation of the region and how it relates to the integrals being evaluated.

Discussion Status

Some participants have provided guidance on how to visualize the region and the implications of the polar coordinates. There is ongoing exploration of the limits of integration, with various interpretations being discussed. No explicit consensus has been reached on the final setup of the integrals.

Contextual Notes

Participants are navigating constraints related to the definitions of the regions in polar coordinates and the assumptions about the angles and radii involved in the integration process.

sarahisme
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http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/6003/picture2mz7.png
 
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You could evaluate them to check your answer.
 
Yes, please show the working. If you don't then someone else has to do the problem to check your work, and that isn't the idea of the Homework Help section of the site.
 
yep, ok sure thing guys. i'll post my working in a sec... :)
 
its part (b) which i am really struggling with...

http://img241.imageshack.us/img241/7764/picture3qq0.png
 
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a. is correct, and the integrands in the others appear correct, but it would be useful to know how the limits were determined. Please do show your work. Thanks. :smile:
 
Your revised working of b. looks correct. In c., the limits of integration are not correct.
 
0rthodontist said:
Your revised working of b. looks correct.


ok, but can the radius really go from -1/cos(theta) to 1/cos(theta)? (i.e. how can radius be negative?
 
as for (c), here is my working...

http://img215.imageshack.us/img215/903/picture6ax5.png
 
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  • #10
ok, but can the radius really go from -1/cos(theta) to 1/cos(theta)? (i.e. how can radius be negative?
You're right--I was wrong. The region includes the area where theta goes from -pi/4 to pi/4 and also the area where theta goes from 3pi/4 to 5pi/4. You should really just split the two parts of the region up into two integrals, which can be condensed into one.
sarahisme said:
as for (c), here is my working...

http://img215.imageshack.us/img215/903/picture6ax5.png
[/URL]
theta should only go from -pi/2 to pi/2. If r <= cos theta then cos theta >= 0.
 
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  • #11
0rthodontist said:
You're right--I was wrong. The region includes the area where theta goes from -pi/4 to pi/4 and also the area where theta goes from 3pi/4 to 5pi/4. You should really just split the two parts of the region up into two integrals, which can be condensed into one.

would you please be able to show me how to do this, i can't seem to do it...what graph should i be looking at to do this (to be able see the bowtie?)


-=sarah
 
  • #12
If |y| <= |x| then you should see this as the region that is vertically between the lines y = x and y = -x. If |x| <= 1 this is the vertical stripe going from -1 to 1 on the x axis. The intersection of these regions is the "bowtie." (if you describe it that way then you must know what it is). In the step where you find |tan theta| <= 1, this can also be satisfied when theta is from 3pi/4 to 5pi/4, though personally I'd trust the diagram more.
 
  • #13
ok, i am still a little confused (sorry :()

this is the graph i am looking at in the x-y plane...the regions enclosing the star shapes are the regions we want ot integrate over, right?

http://img201.imageshack.us/my.php?image=picture5sr6.png
 
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  • #14
Not a graph, a region. A graph is like the graph of a function.
http://img201.imageshack.us/img201/2214/bowtiehl4.png
If you have |y| <= |x| then you can break it up into cases:
1. x >= 0. Then -x <= y <= x.
2. x <= 0. Then x <= y <= -x.
 
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  • #16
No, because that only covers the right half of the bowtie.
 
  • #17
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  • #18
0rthodontist said:
No, because that only covers the right half of the bowtie.

yeah, but i put a 2 out the front and so double the area. because the two halfs of the bowtie have the same area?
 
  • #19
Oh, I didn't see the 2 before. Yes, that's correct, but not because the halves have the same area--because the function inside depends only on the radius, not the angle.

Now that you've drawn the diagram for part c, what can you say about the limits of integration for the angle?
 
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  • #20
0rthodontist said:
Now that you've drawn the diagram for part c, what can you say about the limits of integration for the angle?

ok well here is the limits for the region we want to integrate over in that diagram...

0<=x<=1
0<=y<=sqrt(x-x^2)

0<=x<=1 converts to 0<=r<=1/cos(theta) in polar coords

right?

then

0<=y<=sqrt(x-x^2) converts to ... i am not sure, this is where i get stuck
 
  • #21
You knew from before that r <= cos theta. So cos theta >= 0. What does that tell you about theta?
 
  • #22
0rthodontist said:
You knew from before that r <= cos theta. So cos theta >= 0. What does that tell you about theta?

that theta >= pi/2 ??
 
  • #23
wait, or that cos(theta) has to be positive (or zero) and this is only true in the first and fourth quadrants, which means that you must integrate theta over -pi/2 to pi/2 ??
 

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