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Now that we are familiar with the spherical coordinate system, let’s find the volume of some known geometric figures, such as spheres and ellipsoids.
Find the volume of the spherical planetarium in l’Hemisphèric in Valencia, Spain, which is five stories tall and has a radius of approximately ft, using the equation
We calculate the volume of the ball in the first octant, where and using spherical coordinates, and then multiply the result by for symmetry. Since we consider the region as the first octant in the integral, the ranges of the variables are
Therefore,
This exactly matches with what we knew. So for a sphere with a radius of approximately ft, the volume is
For the next example we find the volume of an ellipsoid.
Find the volume of the ellipsoid
We again use symmetry and evaluate the volume of the ellipsoid using spherical coordinates. As before, we use the first octant and and then multiply the result by
In this case the ranges of the variables are
Also, we need to change the rectangular to spherical coordinates in this way:
Then the volume of the ellipsoid becomes
Find the volume of the space inside the ellipsoid and outside the sphere
This problem is directly related to the l’Hemisphèric structure. The volume of space inside the ellipsoid and outside the sphere might be useful to find the expense of heating or cooling that space. We can use the preceding two examples for the volume of the sphere and ellipsoid and then substract.
First we find the volume of the ellipsoid using and in the result from [link] . Hence the volume of the ellipsoid is
From [link] , the volume of the sphere is
Therefore, the volume of the space inside the ellipsoid and outside the sphere is approximately
Hot air ballooning is a relaxing, peaceful pastime that many people enjoy. Many balloonist gatherings take place around the world, such as the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta. The Albuquerque event is the largest hot air balloon festival in the world, with over balloons participating each year.
As the name implies, hot air balloons use hot air to generate lift. (Hot air is less dense than cooler air, so the balloon floats as long as the hot air stays hot.) The heat is generated by a propane burner suspended below the opening of the basket. Once the balloon takes off, the pilot controls the altitude of the balloon, either by using the burner to heat the air and ascend or by using a vent near the top of the balloon to release heated air and descend. The pilot has very little control over where the balloon goes, however—balloons are at the mercy of the winds. The uncertainty over where we will end up is one of the reasons balloonists are attracted to the sport.
In this project we use triple integrals to learn more about hot air balloons. We model the balloon in two pieces. The top of the balloon is modeled by a half sphere of radius feet. The bottom of the balloon is modeled by a frustum of a cone (think of an ice cream cone with the pointy end cut off). The radius of the large end of the frustum is feet and the radius of the small end of the frustum is feet. A graph of our balloon model and a cross-sectional diagram showing the dimensions are shown in the following figure.
We first want to find the volume of the balloon. If we look at the top part and the bottom part of the balloon separately, we see that they are geometric solids with known volume formulas. However, it is still worthwhile to set up and evaluate the integrals we would need to find the volume. If we calculate the volume using integration, we can use the known volume formulas to check our answers. This will help ensure that we have the integrals set up correctly for the later, more complicated stages of the project.
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