Solving Integral for Mass of D in Spherical Coordinates

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Homework Help Overview

The problem involves finding the mass of a region D defined by a sphere and a cone using spherical coordinates, with a mass density of z². The original poster is struggling with setting up the integral correctly.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory, Assumption checking

Approaches and Questions Raised

  • The original poster attempts to set up the integral for mass using spherical coordinates but is uncertain about the correctness of their setup. Some participants discuss the labeling conventions for spherical coordinates and suggest that the setup may be valid despite the original poster's doubts.

Discussion Status

The discussion is ongoing, with participants providing feedback on the original poster's integral setup. There is no explicit consensus on the correctness of the setup, but some guidance on labeling conventions has been offered.

Contextual Notes

There is mention of potential inconsistencies in the use of symbols for spherical coordinates, which may contribute to confusion in the setup. The original poster also expresses doubt about the evaluation of the integral or the correctness of the provided answer.

Benny
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Hi, I'm having trouble setting up an integral for the following problem.

Q. Let D be the region inside the sphere x^2 + y^2 + z^2 = 4 in common with the region below the cone [tex]z = \frac{1}{{\sqrt 3 }}\sqrt {x^2 + y^2 }[/tex].

Using spherical coordinates find the mass of D if the mass density is z^2.

I keep on getting an answer which doesn't correspond to the given answer. I just need help setting up the integral. I get:

[tex] z = \frac{1}{{\sqrt 3 }}\sqrt {x^2 + y^2 } \Rightarrow \cos \phi = \frac{1}{{\sqrt 3 }}\sin \phi \Rightarrow \phi = \frac{\pi }{3}[/tex]

[tex] x^2 + y^2 + z^2 = 4 \Rightarrow \rho = 2[/tex]

[tex] m = \int\limits_{}^{} {\int\limits_{}^{} {\int\limits_E^{} {z^2 dV} } } [/tex]

[tex] = \int\limits_{}^{} {\int\limits_{}^{} {\int\limits_E^{} {\rho ^2 \cos ^2 \left( \phi \right)dV} } } [/tex]

[tex] = \int\limits_{\frac{\pi }{3}}^\pi {\int\limits_0^{2\pi } {\int\limits_0^2 {\rho ^2 \cos ^2 \left( \phi \right)} } } \rho ^2 \sin \left( \phi \right)d\rho d\theta d\phi [/tex]

[tex] = \int\limits_{\frac{\pi }{3}}^\pi {\int\limits_0^{2\pi } {\int\limits_0^2 {\rho ^4 \cos ^2 \left( \phi \right)} } } \sin \left( \phi \right)d\rho d\theta d\phi [/tex]

The evaluation of the integral is fairly straight forward. It's just setting up the correct integral which is giving me problems. Can someone go through my working and show me where I stuffed up?
 
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How do you know your setup is wrong?

It looks okay to me except that I would label things differently. I would use [itex]\theta[/itex] for the polar angle, [itex]\phi[/itex] for the azimuthal angle and [itex]r[/itex] for the radial coordinate.
 
He used rho instead of r, because in some books r is reserved for the radial direction in cylinderical coordinates, and rho is for sphereical. Math and physics text typically switch the phi and theta labels.

(What happened to consistency?) ;-p
 
Consistency? I think that's a bit much to ask! ;)
 
I might have just evaluated the integral incorrectly or the answer which is given might be incorrect (I doubt it though). Thanks for the help.
 

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