🧄Calculating the Area of a Half-Sphere Using Cylindrical Coordinates
Calculating the surface area of a parameterized surface like a half-sphere involves integrating the magnitude of the cross product of its partial derivative vectors, which is equivalent to the square root of the determinant of the induced metric tensor , where components are the dot products of the partial derivatives with respect to the parameters, and in this case, a cylindrical parametrization simplifies the integral by defining infinitesimal area elements ( ) and allowing a u-substitution ( ) to yield the final result of , confirming half the area of a full sphere.
🎬visualizes the surface area calculation of a half-sphere using the provided cylindrical parametrization
The surface area of a complex 3D shape, like a half-sphere, can be precisely calculated by breaking it down into infinitesimally small patches. The app shows how the cylindrical parametrization of a sphere allows us to define these tiny patches in terms of $\rho$ and $\phi$ and then sum them up with integration to find the total area. It visually demonstrates that the total area is a cumulative sum of all these smaller surface elements, which change shape and size as you move across the sphere's surface.
🖊️Mathematical Proof
Last updated
Was this helpful?