7.
3 The Shell Method
An alternative method for finding the volume of a solid of revolution is called the shell method because
it uses cylindrical shells.
A comparison of the advantages of the disk and shell methods is given later in this section.
Consider a representative rectangle as shown in
Figure 7.27, where w is the width of the rectangle, h is the height of the rectangle, and p is the distance
between the axis of revolution and the center of the rectangle. With this method, the inscribed
rectangle is parallel to the axis of revolution.
The plane region in Figure 7.28 is revolved about a line to form the indicated solid. Consider a horizontal
rectangle of width ∆y, then, as the plane region is revolved about a line parallel to the x-axis, the
rectangle generates a representative shell whose volume is
p ( x )∨ p ( y ) is the distance from the center of the rectangle to the axis of revolution, and h ( x )∨h ( y) is
the height of the rectangle.
Ex 1. Find the volume of the solid formed by revolving the region bounded by y = x – x3 and the x-axis
(0 ≤ x ≤ 1) about the
y-axis.
Solution:
Because the axis of revolution is vertical, use a vertical representative rectangle, as shown in Figure 7.30.
The width ∆x indicates that x is the variable of integration.
The distance from the center of the rectangle to the axis of revolution is p(x) = x, and the height of the
rectangle is h(x) = x – x3.
Because x ranges from 0 to 1, the volume of the solid is
The disk and shell methods can be distinguished as follows.
For the disk method, the representative rectangle is always perpendicular to the axis of revolution,
whereas for the shell method, the representative rectangle is always parallel to the axis of revolution.
Find the volume of the solid formed by revolving the region bounded by the graphs of y = x2 + 1, y = 0, x
= 0, and x = 1 about the y-axis.
Solution:
The washer method requires two integrals to determine the volume of this solid.
You can see that the shell method requires only one integral to find the volume.
Ex. 3 Find the volume of the solid generated by revolving y=4 x−x 2, x=0, y=4 about the y-axis.
First, we find the boundaries by letting y=4.
2
4=4 x−x
2
x −4 x+ 4=0
( x−2 )2=0
x=2
So, the boundaries are x=0∧x=2. The distance from the axis of revolution to the center of the
rectangle, p ( x ) is x and the height of the rectangle h ( x ) is 4 x−x 2.
2
V =2 π ∫ x ( 4 x−x ) dx
2
0
2
¿ 2 π ∫ ( 4 x −x ) dx
2 3
( )
3 4
4x x 2
¿2π − ¿
3 4 0
¿2π [ ( 4 ( 2 )3 ( 2 )4
3
−
4 )
−( 0 ) ]
8
¿ π
3
Homework; Page 470, problems 3-7 (odds), 13, 17, 19, 23, 25, 29.
