Lecture 18
Uploaded by
AndrewLecture 18
Uploaded by
AndrewMULTIVARIABLE CALCULUS
OLIVER KNILL, MATH 21A
Lecture 18: Surface integrals
Surface area
If ~r(u, v) is a parametrization of a surface, then ~ru and ~rv are tangent to the surface.
Think of ~ru du and ~rv dv as sides of a small parallelogram of area dS = |~ru × ~rv |dudv.
The integral
RR RR
R
dS = R |~ru × ~rv | dudv
is the surface area of the surface.
Graph case
If ~r(u, v) = hu, v, f (u, v)i, then ~ru = h1,
p0, fu (u, v)i and ~rv = h0, 1, fv (u, v)i. We get
~ru × ~rv = h−fu , −fv , 1i and |~ru × ~rv | = 1 + fu2 + fv2 .
2 2
Example:
RR The R 1y√ ≤ 1 for example
√ surface area of a paraboloid z = f (x, y) withRx2π +
is u2 +v2 ≤1 1 + u2 + v 2 dudv which in polar coordinates is 0 0 1 + r2 r drdθ.
Sphere case
With ~r(φ, θ) = hρ sin(φ) cos(θ), ρ sin(φ) sin(θ), ρ cos(φ)i we parametrize a sphere of
radius ρ. We have |~rφ × ~rθ | = ρ2 sin(φ) which explains also that if we go in to spherical
coordinates we had an integration factor ρ2 sin(φ)dφθdρ. We can rewrite this as dSdρ
and think of this as a thin spherical shell element of area dS and thickness dρ.
Example: The sphere has surface area
Z 2π Z π
ρ2 sin(φ) dφdθ = 4π .
0 0
Planar case
With ~r(s, t) = P~ + s~v + tw
~ we have ~rs = ~v and ~rt = w~ and ~rs × ~rt = ~v × w.
~ If we look
at the parameter domain 0 ≤ s ≤ 1, 0 ≤ t ≤ 1, then we have the surface area of the
parallelogram spanned by the two vectors ~v and w. ~
Math 21a Section Knill
Revolution case
In the surface of revolution
p case, we have ~r(θ, z) = hg(z) cos(θ), g(z) sin(θ), zi. We
compute |~rθ × ~rz | = g(z) 1 + g 0 (z)2 .
Example: Let us take for example a trumpet with g(z) = 1/z and assume that z
ranges from 1 to b. The trumpet has now surface area
Z 2π Z b r Z 2π Z b
1 1 1
1 + 4 dz ≥ dz = 2π log(b) .
0 1 z z 0 1 z
Figure 1. Graph, sphere, planar and revolution case.
17. Surface integral
If f (u, v) is a density function, we can look at the surface integral
RR RR
R
f dS = R f (u, v)|~ru × ~rv | dudv
An important example is f (u, v) = 1, in which case we just have the surface area. It
is important to think about the surface integral as a generalization of the surface area
integral. Sometimes this can be a bit puzzling.
Figure 2. The surface area element |~ru × ~rv | dudv.
Example: Let us look for example at the case f (θ, z) = z 2 and let S be the cone √
surface
RR ~r (θ, z) = hz cos(θ),
R 2π R 1 √ z sin(θ), zi with |z| ≤ 1 for which we have |~
r z × rθ | = 2z
3
and S f dS = 0 −1 2z dz = 0 which obviously is not right. The mistake was
R 2π R 1 √
that |~rz × rθ | = |z|. We can rectify that by computing 2 0 0 2z 3 dzdθ.
Section Oliver Knill, [email protected], Harvard College, Fall 2022
