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r
2
+h
2
= rL
1
x
y
z
y = f(x)
a b
Figure 2: Calculating surface area with frustra
where L is called the slant height of the cone. See the left side of Fig. 3. Then
the area of the frustrum on the right side of Fig. 3 is the dierence of the areas
of the large and small cones:
frustrum area = r
(L +L
) rL
= (r
r)L +r
= rL
+r
= (r +r
)L
The last line follows from the similarity of the triangles ABC and ADE.
Corresponding sides have the same ratios:
r
L +L
=
r
L
r
L = r(L +L
)
(r
r)L = rL
2
L
In the limit as r r
approaches r
1 + (f
(x))
2
dx, and the sum of the areas of the
frustra approaches the integral
area =
b
a
2f(x)
1 + (f
(x))
2
dx (1)
2
L h
r
A
B C
D E
r
L
r
L
Figure 3: The area of a cone, the area of a frustrum
Examples
1. To illustrate this process, we compute the area of a sphere of radius r, the
surface obtained by revolving the curve y =
r
2
x
2
, r x r, about the
x-axis.
For this surface, f(x) =
r
2
x
2
. Then f
(x) = x/
r
2
x
2
and so the area is
area =
r
r
2
r
2
x
2
1 +
x
2
r
2
x
2
dx
=
r
r
2
r
2
x
2
r
r
2
x
2
dx
= 2
r
r
rdx = 4r
2
We have recovered the result familiar from geometry.
2. Next, we compute the area of the surface obtained by revolving the curve
y = x
3
, 0 x 1, about the x-axis.
Applying Eq. (1) we nd
area =
1
0
2x
3
1 + (3x
2
)
2
dx
=
18
10
1
udu substituting u = 1 + 9x
4
=
27
(10
3/2
1)
3