Volumn by cross sections - solving in terms of which axis confusion?

Join the discussion
Registration is free. Start your own thread to ask a follow-up.
3 replies · 2K views
zeion
Messages
455
Reaction score
1

Homework Statement



I need to find the volume of the solid generated by revolving this region bounded by the curves about the x-axis.

y = sqrt(x), x+y=6, y=1


Homework Equations





The Attempt at a Solution



I find the intersections of these curves I get:

(1,1), (4,2), (5,1)..
Then I see that to get the area of this cross section I need to do two sections from x = 1 to x = 4, and x = 4 to x = 5 if I integrated in terms of x..

So I see that it will be easier to integrate in terms of y:

I will get the area to be

[tex] A(y) = \int_{1}^{2} [(-y+6)-(y^2)]dy[/tex]

But now I am confused as to how I can formulate the integral to find the volume of this by revolving around the x-axis?

I know I need to use the difference of the boundary as the radius then multiply by pi.. but I don't understand how to do that if I wrote the area in terms of y?
 
Physics news on Phys.org
Forget the integral you have. That just gives you the area of the region, which isn't what you want.

Your typical volume element is a shell whose volume is 2* pi*radius*length*[itex]\Delta y[/itex]. For your problem radius is y, and length is (6 - y - y2). The limits of integration are the ones you found, y = 1 and y = 2.

BTW, you should have put this into the Calculus and Beyond section, not the Precalcus section.
 
So can I do this to find the volume?

[tex] <br /> V = \int_{1}^{2} \pi[(-y+6)^2-(y^2)^2]dy<br /> [/tex]
 
zeion said:
So can I do this to find the volume?

[tex] <br /> V = \int_{1}^{2} \pi[(-y+6)^2-(y^2)^2]dy<br /> [/tex]
Reread what I wrote in post #2.