Using Quadratic Regression and Volume of Revolution Disc Method to calculate

the volumes of cooking ingredients.

Introduction:

My inspiration for this mathematics investigation arose from extended periods of time in math
class, wondering when I would actually use the course content in real life situations. This in combination
with my time spent in the kitchen, I usually cook my own meals (especially on the weekends), so when
thinking of a mathematics exploration topic I immediately took inspiration in using cooking ingredients as
a basis for my mathematics exploration.

However, I found it pa1ticularly difficult thinking of a method to apply calculus within the
kitchen environment, I had a number of ideas which I would eventually end up throwing away. While
doing some extra research I was suddenly hit with a completely new concept within the field of calculus
in which I found particularly i11teresting; volume of revolutions. l bad the idea to incorporate the volume
of revolutions disc method in order to calculate the volume of various different cooking ingredients with
unique curves. I was interested in this, and I moved forward feeling confident that this exploration would
allow me to engage in mathematics that bears meaning as it incorporates one of my favorite hobbies as
opposed to a traditional classroom setting which bears little value in terms of real life understanding.
After using an online graphing calculator called Desmos throughout high school. T was familiar with its
capabilities and would use this tool to import pictures of the objects and create a series of graphs and
equations. Once this was done I thought it would be interesting to test tbe accuracy of tbe results by
inserting the objects in water and measuring the displacement to find out their volumes.

Up u11til this point I had no experience in applying mathematics outside the classroom
environment, and as a result, my main goal for this investigation would be to apply an area of
mathematics outside of the classroom in a real life situation and develop an understanding of the accuracy
of the volume using the revolutions disc method.

Selection of Objects:

In order to achieve accurate results in my calculations I would need objects that were small
enough to fit in a I litre measuring cup for the fillal water displacement test with distinct curves. I had a
number of various different objects in mind, although due to practicality issues, I settled on three items
that were relatively easy to gather such as an orange, an egg and a lemon. Based on the fact that all of
these objects had sbghtly different curves I thought that would make for an interesting exploration.

Production of Parabolas:

To produce the parabolas, I would need to plot points along the curves of the objects. I created a
layout of all the items I would be experimenting with on a counte1top and took clear pictures of each item.
The pictures of the three objects were imported into Desmos without stretching or altering the image in
any way, these images can be seen in Figures 1 to 3 below. I would only drag the image toward the right
side of the Cartesian coordinate grid on the x-axis between the fourth and first quadrant and place them in
the center. Once the pictures were on the graph, I plotted points along the curve of each object in intervals
of 0.5cm or I cm depending on the length of the object. In some cases the difficult curves like stud on the
end of the orange and lemon would make it go past the origin even when centered, but for the egg it was
easier as the surface of the egg was smooth with no defo1mities. In the end, three tables of values were
produced which can be seen in Tables 1 to 3 below.
I would then proceed to use a TI-83 graphing calculator to calculate quadratic regression in order
to produce equations for each of the objects as well as get an idea of the variation and accuracy of the
points to produce an accurate equation. If the correlation coefficient did not show a strong correlation (R2
< 0.95) I would have to use another regression model. The correlation coefficients, parameters, tables and
equations for each object can be seen below.

2
Orani:e (7cm diameter)

I
Figure 1: The graph of y 1 (Orange)

10

_J__ 5

-5 10

Y i (cm) x 1 (cm)

0 0.66

1.0 2.42

2.0 3.16

3.0 3.53

4.0 3.61

5.0 3.35

6.0 2.65

7.0 1.03
Table 1: Pomts plotted along the curve of the orange m I cm mtervals

Quadratic regression y = ax2 +bx+ c

R2= 0.9842

Parameters:
a= -0.228155
b= 1.64935
c= 0.77125

Equation produced:

3
 y 1 = - 0.228x2 + l.65x + 0.771

Egg._(4.2 cm length)

Figure 2: Graph of y2 (Egg)

Cm

10

.5

Y2 (cm) x2 (cm)

0 0

0.5 0.83

1.0 1.25

1.5 1.44

2.0 1.55

2.5 1.50

3.0 1.25

3.5 0.89

4.0 0.21
Table 2: Points plotted along the curve of the egg in 0.5cm intervals

Quadratic regression: y = ax2 +bx+ c

4
 Table 3: Points plotted along the curve of the lemon in 0.5 cm intervals

Quadratic regression: y = ax2 + bx + c

R2= 0.9649

Parameters:

a= - 0.353706
b= 1.7669
c= 0.364965

Equation produced:
y3 = - 0.354x2 + 1.77x + 0.365

Formulation oflntegrals

Once the equations were made and I was confident that they were as accw-ate as possible I
expressed the equations in integrals using the volume of revolutions disc method also known as disc
integration to calculate the volumes of the respective objects.

Disc integration formula: V= 7t f y2 dx

a
Integrals produced:

V orange = 7t I ( - 0.228x2 + l.65x + 0.77 l )2 dx

0
4I
V egg = 7t f (- 0.360x2 + l.47x + 0.0801 ) 2dx
0

V lemon = 7t f (-0.354x2 + 1.77x + 0.365) 2dx

0

Integral calculations
* All calculations have been rounded to 3 s.f whenever applicable*

Orange (7cm Diameter)

V orange = 7t I ( -0.228x2 + I.65x + 0.771 )2 dx

0

I. Expand and Simplify (long expansion process cut out)

6
 = 7t f (- 0.228x2 + l .65x + 0.771 )(- 0.228x2 + l .65x + 0.771 )dx
0

lli2.. x4 _ 2500 � x2 + �
l.filil x3 + 250000 594441
x + 1000000
=nf 26500 10000
0

2. Using the antiderivative mle to find the integral: 11

�I xn+I

3. Expressing integral in the form [g(x)] %

V= 7t [llli. - 2ll.§.1 (l) x4 + ill1.lL 3 + � l x2 + �x 7

26 5 00 (l)x 25 0000 (l)x
s
S 500 4 ' 3 IOOOO ( 2 ) I 000000 ] 0

4. Using the fundamental theorem of calculus to calculate the definite integral:

f./{x)dx= F( b )-F(a)
a

V= 7t [ ( fJs4i;o ( D (7)
5
- i��6 (¼) (7) + ���6ii6 ( D (7/ + 7�66t (1) (7)
4 2
+ 15cio�o'oC 7)) - (O)]
6
V= TC [(174.7 + 271.1 + 4.16 - 451.6 + 62.3) - (0)]

5. Solve for V

V= TC (60.7)
V= 190.6946741
V orange::::: 190.7cm 3

Egg_(4.2 cm Length)
4.2
V egg= 7t f (- 0.359x2 + l.47x + 0.0801 )2 dx
0

l. Expand and Simplify (long expansion process cut out)

4.2
= 7t f (- 0.359x2 + l.47x + 0.0801 )(- 0.359x2 + 1.47x + 0.0801 )dx
0

7
 4.2
1 2 8881 x4 _� x3 + 1 05169 4 1 x2 + .L!1ill x + 641601
=n I 1000000 5 0000 5 000000 5 00000 100000000
0

2. Using the antiderivative rule to find the integral: x11+l

n!t

3. Expressing integral in the form [f(x)] �

28881
V= 7t [ 1000000 l x5 _ � l x4 + 105169 41 l x3 + .L!1ill l x2 + 64 1601 x 4 . 2
I (5) 50000 ( 4 ) 5000000 ( 3 ) 5 00000 ( 2 ) I 00000000 ] 0

4. Using the fundamental theorem of calculus to calculate the definite integral:

b
fflx)dx=F( b )-F( a)
a
=n
128881 I
[ I 000000 ( 5 ) (4 · 2)
52773 I (4 2) 10 5169 4 1 I (4 2)3 117747 I (4 2 2 64 1601 (4 2 ( )
• - sci1ioo (4 ) · + s5ci'ooo ( 2 ) . ) + I00000000 • )) _ 0 ]
5 4
+ 5000000 ( 3 ) ·
= n [(33.7 - 82.1 + 51.9 + 2.08 + 0.0269) - (0)]

5. Solve for V

V= n(S.61)
V= 17.6243347
V Egg:::::: l 7.6cm 3

Lemon (5cm Length)

5
V lemon = 7t J (- 0.354x2 + l.77x + 0.365) 2dx
0

1. Expand and Simplify (long expansion process cut out)

5
V lemon = 7t J (-0.354x2 + l.77x + 0.365) 2dx
0

V lemon = 7t f l..Lll2. x4 - 11112 x3 + 12.2ll x2 + lllli x + 5 2 9

25 0000 2 5 000 1 2 5 00 10000 4 03000
0

2. Using the antiderivative rule to find the integral:

!1 x
11
11 +l

8
 3. Expressing integral in the form [f(x)] �

4. Employing the fundamental theorem of calculus

fj{x)dx=F(b)-F(a)

=n [(
3 1 32 9 (l) (5)
5
_ 3 1 32 9 (l) (5) +
4 35 93 1 (l) (5) +
3
1292 1 (l) (5) +
2 532 9
(5)) _ (0)]
250000 5 25000 4 12500 3 I 0000 2 40000

= n [(78.3 + 119.8 + 0.666 - 195.8 + 16.2) - (0)]

5. Solve for V

V= 1t (19.2)
V= 60.3185789
V Lemon ::::: 60.3cm 3

Water displacement test:

Once I finally solved for the volume for every individual object I felt like it was
necessary to compare results by using a common method involving measuring the displacement
of water. Depending on the size of the objects different measuring cups and initial amounts of
water were used and if needed, a toothpick was used to secure the object and prevent it from
floating to fully submerge it in the water. As the egg was the smallest out of all the objects a 250
mL PYREX measuring cup was used instead of a lL cup. Due to the unavailability of a more
precise apparatus the all of these measurements are an approximation. Pictures from the test can
be seen below in Figures 4-6.

Orange

Figure 4: Results of the water displacement test for the orange

9
Water Displacement= V with object - initial water V
= 950mL - 800mL = 150mL

Lemon

Figure 5: Results of the water displacement test for the lemon

Water Displacement= V with object - initial water V

= 810mL -700mL = l l0mL
Egg

Figure 6: Results of the water djsplacement test for the egg

Water Displacement= V with object - initial water V

= 425 mL - 400mL = 25mL

10
 As seen in Table 4 below the calculations done in this mathematics exploration are
accurate on some occasions when comparing to the actual measurements in the water
displacement test.

Table 4: Compa1ison of my calculated values and measured values

Object Calculated Measured Displacement(mL)
value( cm 3 ) approx.

Orange 190.7 150

Lemon 60.3 110

Egg 17.3 25

In the end, the formation of the graphs, tables and equations earlier in the exploration
provides me with some accurate data. However, due to unfortunate circumstances of having to
use my home apparatus to test the accuracy of my calculations with equipment that did not give
an exact measurement is a major limitation to this mathematics exploration. It is a good thing
that the apparatuses used were viable enough for me to know how my calculated values
compared to the measured values in the water displacement test. The outcome of this exploration
may have been different if the lemon and the orange would not have passed the origin even when
centered on the coordinate grid. If I would have been able to find these items with smaller or no
lumps on the end resulting from connection to the plant the validity of my exploration would
have increased. This is perhaps a reason for the inaccurate volumes of the orange and lemon
when compared to the measured values.
This mathematics exploration allowed me to fulfil one of my goals within the field of
calculus, which is to apply it to a real life situation beyond the course curriculum. I now know
how to apply the Disc method of integration and volume of revolutions, as a result I have gained
understanding of its accuracy when being used in the real world.

Works cited

11