MA211

Week 8: LECTURE 1
14.5: Triple Integrals

1
Recall
• The definite integral of a function f(x)
on the interval [a,b]:

• The double integral of f(x, y) over R.

• Now we will look at triple integral of f(x, y, z).

2
Triple Integrals in Rectangular Coordinates
The region itself is a 3-D solid object, assumed to fit into a
sufficiently large box. That is, the region is finite and closed.
z

box

Region, G
y

3
x
Divide the large box into sub-boxes, and consider an arbitrary
sub-box k in the region G, centered at the point ( xk* , yk* , zk* ) and
whose volume is Vk .
z

box

x
4
Then the product of the 4-dimensional surface w  f ( x, y, z ) and the
volume of the kth sub-box is f xk* , yk* , zk* Vk .
Next we divide the large box into smaller and smaller sub-boxes, so
that we can form the sum
n
 
 f xk , yk , zk Vk
k 1
* * *

If we increase the number of sub-boxes uniformly within the

region, G, then we can define

 f ( x, y, z ) dV  lim  f
n

n k 1
 * * *
xk , yk , zk V k
G

called the triple integral of w  f ( x, y, z ) over the region G.

The usual assumption is that w is continuous on G.
5
The simplest G region is the rectangular box
G  ( x, y, z ) : a  x  b, c  y  d , k  z  l  [a, b]  [c, d ]  [k , l ]
which gives the triple integrals

 f ( x, y, z ) dV 
b d l
a c k f ( x, y, z ) dz dy dx
G
 d b l
c a k f ( x, y, z ) dz dx dy
 b l d
a k c f ( x, y, z ) dy dz dx
 l b d
k a c f ( x, y, z ) dy dx dz
 d l b
c k a f ( x, y, z ) dx dz dy
 l d b
k c a f ( x, y, z ) dx dy dz
6
DEFINITION OF A TRIPLE INTEGRAL

The limit

is called the triple integral of f(x, y, z)

over the solid region G.

7
PROPERTIES OF TRIPLE INTEGRALS

8
EVALUATING TRIPLE INTEGRALS OVER
RECTANGULAR BOXES
Let G be the rectangular box defined by the inequalities
a ≤ x ≤ b, c ≤ y ≤ d, k ≤ z ≤ l
If f is continuous on the region G, then

inner middle outer

Moreover, the iterated integral on the right can be
replaced with any of the five other iterated integrals that
result by altering the order of integration.

9
EXAMPLE 1: a) Evaluate the triple integral 
G
12 xy 2 z3 dV

over the rectangular box G defined by the inequalities

−1 ≤ x ≤ 2, 0 ≤ y ≤ 3, 0 ≤ z ≤ 2.

2 3 2
 12 xy z dV   
2 3
12 xy 2 z 3dzdydx
1 0 0
G
2 3 2
  
 3 xy z  dydx
2 4
1 0 z 0
2 3
  48 xy 2 dydx
1 0
2 3
  16 xy  dx 3
1 y 0

2 2
  432 xdx   216 x   648
2 10
1 x 1
 2 1 ey
b. Compute the triple integral   
1 0 1
ey
x z2
dx dy dz

Solution: The value of the integral is computed as follow:

ey ey 2 1e
y
dxdydz    2  ln x 1 dydz
2 1 ey

1 0 1 xz 2 1 0 z

y
2 1e
   2  ydydz Use integration byy parts
1 0 z let u  y, dv  e dy
2 1
  2  ye  e 
y y 1
1 z 0

2 1
  2 dz
1 z

2
 1 1
   
 z 1 2
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Application: Mass of an Object
Let δ(x,y,z) be the density function of a solid object G.
The mass M of the object is given by

Example 2
A solid box G is bounded by the planes x = 0, x = 3, y
= 0, y = 2, z = 0 and z = 1. The density of the box is
given by δ(x,y,z) = 2 - z. Find the mass of the box.

(0, 0,1)

(3, 0, 0)

(0, 2, 0)

12
 3 2 1
M   (2 z )dV     (2 z )dzdydx
0 0 0
G
1
3 z 
2
2
    2 z   dydx
0 0
 2 0
3 23
   dydx
0 0 2

2
3y 
3
    dx
0
 2 0
3
  3dx  9
0

13
Let’s now move on the more general three-dimensional regions.
We have three different possibilities for a general region.
Here is a sketch of the first possibility.
1. Region E is a Simple xy-Solid

In this case we define the region E as follows,

E  ( x, y, z ) | ( x, y)  D, u1 ( x, y)  z  u2 ( x, y)

where ( x, y)  D is the notation that means that the point ( x, y)

lies in the region D from the xy-plane. In this case we will evaluate
the triple integral as follows,
 u2 ( x , y ) f ( x , y , z ) dz dA

E
f ( x , y , z ) dV  
D
 u1 ( x , y ) 
Example 3: Evaluate  2 x dV where G is the region under the plane
G

2 x  3 y  z  6 that lies in the first octant.

Solution:
We should first define octant. Three-dimensional coordinate
System can be divided into eight octants. The first octant is the octant
In which all three of the coordinates are positive.

Here is a sketch of the plane in the first octant.

15
D will be the triangle with vertices at (0,0), (3,0), and (0,2).
Here is a sketch of region D.

Type I

Now we need the limits of integration. Since we are under the plane
and in the first octant (so we’re above the plane z  0 ) we have the
following limits for z.
0  z  6  2x  3y
We can integrate the double integral over D by using Type I
0  x  3,
2
0 y - x2
3 16
The integral is then,

 6  2 x 3 y

2 xdz dA    2 xz 
6  2 x 3 y

G
2 xdV   
D
 0 
D
dA
0
2
3  x2
  3
2 x(6  2 x  3 y )dydx
0 0
2
3  x2
  12 xy  4 x 2 y  3xy 2 
3
dx
0 0

4
3 
   x3  8 x 2  12 x  dx

0 3

3
1 8 
  x 4  x3  6 x 2 
3 3 0
9

17
Let’s now move onto the second possible three-dimensional region
we may run into for triple integrals.
2. Region E is a Simple yz-Solid

For this possibility we define the region E as follows,

E  ( x, y, z ) | ( y, z )  D, u1 ( y, z )  x  u2 ( y, z )

So, the region D will be a region in the yz-plane. Here is how

we will evaluate these integrals.

 u2 ( y , z ) f ( x , y , z ) dx dA

E
f ( x , y , z ) dV  
D
 u1 ( y , z ) 
Example 4:
Determine the volume of the region that lies behind the plane
x  y  z  8 and in front of the region in the yz-plane that is
3
bounded by z . 2 y and z  3 y .
2
Solution: Here is a sketch of the region D

Type I

Here is a sketch of the region itself.

19
Now we need the limits of integration. Since we are at the
positive side of curve x  0 , we have the following limits for x.
0  x  8 y  z
We can integrate the double integral over D by using Type I
0  y  4,
3 3
yz y
4 2

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The volume is then,
3y
V   dv     dx dA  
8 y  z
 8  y  z dzdy
4
2
 0  0
3y
G D 4
3 y
4  1 2 2
 8 z  yz  2 z  3 y dy
0
4

 4 57 3 3/2 33 2 
  12 y 
1/2
y y  y  dy
0
 8 2 32 
4
 3/2 57 2 3 5/2 11 3 
 8 y  y  y  y 
 16 5 32  0
49

5

21
The final possible three-dimensional region we may run into for
triple integrals.
3. Region E is a Simple xz-Solid

E is defined as,
E  ( x, y, z ) | ( x, z)  D, u1 ( x, z)  y  u2 ( x, z)

The region D will be a region in the xz-plane.

Here is how we will evaluate these integrals.

 u2 ( x , z ) f ( x , y , z ) dy dA

E
f ( x , y , z ) dV  
D
 u1 ( x , z ) 

22
Example 5:
Evaluate  3x 2  3z 2 dV where G is the solid bounded by
E

y  2 x 2  2 z 2 and the plane y  8 .

Solution: Sketch of the solid G

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 This disk will come from the front of the solid and we can
determine the equation of the disk by setting the elliptic paraboloid
and the plane equal.
2 x2  2 z 2  8  x2  z 2  4

This region, as well as the integrand, both seems to suggest that

we should use something like polar coordinates. However we
are in the xz-plane and we’ve only seen polar coordinates in the
xy-plane. This is not a problem. We can always “translate” them
over to the xz-plane with the following definition.

x  r cos  , z  r sin  , x2  z 2  r 2
24
With this in hand we can arrive at the limits of the variables that we’ll
need for this integral.
2 x 2  2 z 2  y  8, 0  r  2, 0    2
The integral is then,

3 x  3 z dV    2 2 3 x 2  3 z 2 dy dA
 8

2 2
 2 x  2 z 
G D
8
   y 3x  3z 
2 2
dA
 
D 2 x2  2 z 2


  3  x 2  z 2  8   2 x 2  2 z 2  dA 
D

Now, since we are going to do the double integral in polar coordinates

let’s get everything converted over to polar coordinates. The integrand is,

 
3  x 2  z 2  8   2 x 2  2 z 2   3r 2  8  2r 2   3 r 8  2r 2 

 3  8r  2 r 3  25
The integral is then,

 3x 2  3z 2 dV   3  8r  2r 3 dA
G D

 8r  2r  rdrd
2 2
 3 3
0 0
2
8 3 2 5 
2
 3   r  r  d
0
3 5 0
2 128
 3 d
0 15
256 3

15

26
Example 6:

Find the volume of the tetrahedron bounded by the coordinate planes

and the plane 3x + 3y + z = 3.

The region is plotted below.

We use a triple integral to compute the volume.
The formula we use is
V   1dV
D

The region D is bounded below by the plane z  0 and above

by the plane z  3 - 3 x - 3 y. The projection of D onto the
xy -plane is the triangular region
( x, y ) :0  y  1  x, 0  x  1
The line y  1  x is the intersection of the plane z  3  3x  3 y
and the plane z  0.
let z  z ,
0  3  3x  3 y
3 y  3  3x
y  1 x 28
Using the order of integration dzdydx, the volume is
1 1 x 3 3 x  3 y
V   1dV     1dzdydx
0 0 0
D
1 1 x 3 3 x  3 y

0 0   z 0
dydx
1 1 x
  (3  3 x  3 y )dydx
0 0
1 x
1 3 2
  3 y  3 xy  y  dx
0
 2 0
1 3 
   3(1  x)  3x(1  x)  (1  x) 2 dx
0
 2 
31 3
   x 2  3 x  dx

0 2 2
1
1 3 3 2 3  1
  x  x  x 
2 2 2 0 2 29