Triple Integral in Cylindrical Coordinates

Join the discussion
Ask a follow-up here, or get your own question answered by working scientists, mathematicians and engineers — people, not an autocomplete.
Real named experts · corrections over time · the nuance an AI answer skips
5 replies · 7K views
daveyman
Messages
88
Reaction score
0
Revised question is below.
 
Last edited:
Physics news on Phys.org

Homework Statement


Evaluate [tex]\int\int\int_E{\sqrt{x^2+y^2} dV[/tex] where E is the region that lies inside the cylinder [tex]x^2+y^2=16[/tex] and between the planes z=-5 and z=4.

Homework Equations


For cylindrical coordinates, [tex]r^2=x^2+y^2[/tex].

The Attempt at a Solution


The inside of the integral becomes [tex]\sqrt{r^2}=r[/tex]. Then I integrated using the following bounds: [tex]\int _0^{2*\pi }\int _{-5}^4\int _0^4r drdzd\theta[/tex]

However, this gives me an answer of [tex]144\pi[/tex]. I've tried several things in Mathematica and I finally tried [tex]\int _0^{2*\pi }\int _{-5}^4\int _0^4r^2drdzd\theta[/tex] which actually gave me the right answer of [tex]384\pi[/tex]. However, integrating over [tex]r^2[/tex] makes no sense.

Any ideas?
 
The infinitesimal volume element in cylindrical coordinates is [itex]dV=rdrd\theta dz[/itex] not just [itex]drd\theta dz[/itex]
 
Thank you for your quick response! I have one more question, though.

Doesn't the [tex]dr[/tex] take care of the radial component of the volume? Why does it need to be [tex]r dr[/tex]?

I realize this is a naive question, but I really appreciate your help.
 
Last edited:
[itex]dr[/itex] does take care of the radial component, but the tangential component is [itex]r d\theta[/itex] not [itex]d \theta[/itex]...remember that the arc length subtended by an angle [itex]\theta[/itex] is [itex]r \theta[/itex]...the same is true for the infinitesimal change in arc length.
 
Oh I get it. Thank you so much!