Final Project Math Model Double Integrals and the Volume of a Hunk of Parmesan Cheese by Karin Dickensheets

Being married to a chef, most of my life outside of academia is spent being a foodie. While I cannot eat dairy, my husband is a huge cheese lover, and I am often finding various, strange-shaped hunks of Parmesan and other cheeses in my refrigerator. (Have you ever seen a "wheel" of cheese? We have been known to have those as well!) In this paper, I have decided to combine my love of double integrals with his love of cheese. I intend to show that using double integrals is an effective way to calculate volume of unusual shapes such as those found in uneven "wedges" of Parmesan cheese. While there are other methods, such as water displacement and the disc method, I believe that double integrals are the most fun and the most accurate means of calculating volume in unusual figures. Finding the volume of an unusual shape might be troublesome to some, but to those who know how to utilize double integrals, it can be a fun challenge leading to the most accurate results compared to other methods. Multiple integrals are easy to set up and calculate. Graphing can help in visualizing how the numbers work. Throughout this paper, I will use a large, fat "wedge" of Parmesan cheese. My cheese was cut in a manner that led to a concave top. (My guess is that somebody used one of those cheese knives on top that work in somewhat of a scooping motion.) The bottom is flat, and the sides are flat. For this example, I will use to represent the top of my cheese, and y=x to represent the bottom. The left boundary is x=2, and the right boundary is x=3. Before I show you how this works, let me first explore alternative methods. This will help me to better show you why double integrals are preferred. One alternative method that could be used to find this volume is the disc method. Because this method is the least accurate I will be speaking of in this paper, I will only touch on this a small amount. The disc method involves taking slices of the graph and calculating volume of those pieces and then adding them up. While this could be a delicious method as far as slicing cheese goes, it isn't the easiest (especially when you consider how difficult it is to cut parmesan), nor is it the most accurate, because many bits get left out. And, what if you do not want to spend your time laboriously slicing your cheese? Double integrals are much easier, and there is less waste. Additionally, water displacement (which I will be speaking of next) is easier and more accurate than the disc method; so the disc method I would only use if I had no other means, and if my party did not mind me cutting the cheese. Water displacement is a method actually worth considering. While it is not as accurate as double integrals, it is easier (assuming you have the necessary materials at hand). In water displacement, you would need to place a bowl in a larger container, fill the bowl with water, and then lower the cheese into the water. Then, you would need to measure the water that spilled over into your larger container. The volume of that water would be that of your cheese. However, there are certain variables that effect the

accuracy of this measurement. Some water is inevitably going to remain on the outside of the first bowl. Some will also remain in the larger bowl. Other variables that could effect this experiment are the porosity and relative density of the cheese and also specific gravity. While this experiment is easy, it isn't completely accurate, and it isn't always convenient. In this paper, I will be comparing examples of double integrals and water displacement to better exemplify the difference. I would like to start with double integrals. An example of using double integrals to calculate the volume of my piece of cheese can be seen in the following problem:

The limits of the inner integral ( and ) are the inner limits, and the limits of the outer integral are the outer limits. (Remember, the top of the cheese is represented by and the bottom is represented by y=x.) In CalculusII, we learned how to find area under curves by integrating over an interval on the x-axis (like from x=1 to x=5). However, in the above example of a double integral, it specifies a region in the xy-plane. When graphed, it looks like this (my cheese would be the wedge seen between the red line and the red curve on the graph:

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0 2 3

This graph is only two dimensional. To find the volume of my cheese wedge, we would need to find the volume between the surface z=(3x+2y) and the xy-plane.

Using the double integral provided above will lead us to the volume we seek. To solve the double integral, we must first work with the inner integral: . In his book, "Calculus and Pizza,"

Pickover recommends not considering the x as a variable during this integration but then considering it a variable after integrating. For example, if we integrate 3x with respect to y, we treat x as a constant, and the antiderivative becomes 3xy. To finish integrating this inner integral, we integrate 2y with respect to y and get y-squared.

Here is how that looks as a math calculation:

Utilizing our basic Calculus skills we can evaluate the inner y integral from y=x to y= . . To finish, we just need to integrate this final integral (the out integral) from 2 to 3.

(1) The wedge of cheese has a volume of about 66 cubic centimeters. Now I will demonstrate how this works with water displacement. I took a 9x13 pan and placed in it a bowl large enough to hold my cheese. I then filled that bowl with water and lowered my cheese into the bowl. Fortunately, my cheese sunk, and I did not need to worry about applying enough pressure to submerge it. I watched with excitement as water poured over the edges of my bowl into my pan. I then carefully removed the bowl from the pan and measured the water that spilled from the bowl to the pan. The measurement I ended up with was around 63 cubic milliliters (equivalent to 63 cubic centimeters). While this is quite close to 66, I am basically losing about a centimeter off the length, width, and height of my cheese! There are several variables that could have caused this discrepancy. As I mentioned previously, relative density of the cheese, the cheese's porosity, and specific gravity could each have affected my outcome. Additionally, there were drops of water on the outside of my bowl and drops of water that remained in the pan as I measured the displaced water. Not only was water displacement not as accurate, but it also made a mess. It required me to have dishes and water on hand, and it took a lot more of my time than integrating the double integral ever did. While both integration and water displacement worked and had very similar answers, integration was much easier, less messy, and to this math girl, a lot more fun than the hassle of volume displacement. Multiple integrals could be used anywhere at any time, whereas water displacement requires items one might not always have on hand. To have the most fun, the least mess, and the most accuracy in calculating the volume of your cheese, I recommend using multiple integrals. Save the water for drinking after eating all that yummy cheese! Bibliography: Computer Physics Communications, "An algebraic formulation of the simplex linear method for Kaprzyk, Retrieved April 05, 2012 from http://www.sciencedirect.com.library.esc.edu/science/article/pii/S0010465511002785 Journal of Biomedical Engineering, "Direct and indirect methods for the quantification of leg volume: comparison between water displacement volumetry, the disk model method and the frustum sign model method, using the correlation coefficient and the limits of agreement" Volume 15, Issue 6, November 1993, Pages 477-480 D.M.K.S. Kaulesar Sukul, P.T. den Hoed, E.J. Johannes, R. van Dolder, E. Benda. Retrieved April 05, 2012 from http://www.sciencedirect.com.library.esc.edu/science/article/pii/0141542593900624 Karlsson, Henrik, "Embedded Water-based Surface Heating Part 1": Hybrid 3D Numerical Model, "Journal of Building Physics," April 2010; vol. 33: pp. 357-391,

Retrieved March 25, 2012 from http://jen.sagepub.com.library.esc.edu/content/33/4/357.full.pdf+html Moore, Lang, Smith, David (2000) "Double Integrals II". Online Scholarly Journal of Mathematics. Duke University. Retrieved March 25, 2012, from http://mathdl.maa.org/jsp/search/searchResults.jsp?url=http://www.math.duke. edu/education/ccp/materials/mvcalc/doubint2/index.html Pickover, Clifford A. (2003). Calculus and Pizza: A Cookbook For The Hungry Mind Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Postharvest Biology and Technology, "Electronic device for measuring volume of selected fruit and vegetables" Volume 35, Issue 1, January 2005, Pages 25-31 B. Jarimopas, T. Nunak, N. Nunak. Retrieved April 05, 2012 from http://www.sciencedirect.com.library.esc.edu/science/article/pii/S0925521404001851