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Exercises: Informal Arguments for Sphere Volume Using Cavalieri's Principle

Grade 10·22 problems·~35 min·Common Core Math - HS Geometry·standard·hsg-gmd-a-2
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A

Recall / Warm-Up

1.

A cylinder has radius r=4r = 4 cm and height h=5h = 5 cm. What is its volume?

2.

A cone has radius r=3r = 3 cm and height h=6h = 6 cm. What is its volume?

3.

A right triangle has legs a=5a = 5 and h=12h = 12. Which expression gives the length of the hypotenuse?

B

Fluency Practice

1.

Two solids each have height 8 cm. At every height hh between 0 and 8 cm, the cross-sectional area of Solid A equals the cross-sectional area of Solid B. By Cavalieri's principle, if Solid A has volume 320π320\pi cm³, what is the volume of Solid B in cm³?

2.

A hemisphere of radius r=6r = 6 cm is compared to a cylinder-minus-cone solid, where both the cylinder and the cone have radius 6 cm and height 6 cm. What is the volume of the cylinder-minus-cone solid in terms of π\pi?

Hemisphere cross-section showing the right triangle formed by radius r = 5, height h = 3, and cross-sectional radius x
3.

A hemisphere of radius r=5r = 5 cm is sliced horizontally at height h=3h = 3 cm above its flat base. Using the Pythagorean Theorem, find the cross-sectional area at that height. Express your answer in terms of π\pi.

4.

For a hemisphere of radius rr, at height hh above the flat base, the cross-sectional radius xx satisfies   ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲   . So the cross-sectional area is Ahemisphere(h)=A_{\text{hemisphere}}(h) =   ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲   .

equation relating x, h, r:
area formula in terms of r and h:
5.

For the cylinder-minus-cone comparison solid (cylinder radius rr, height rr; cone apex at base, base radius rr at top), at height hh the cone's inner radius equals   ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲   . The annular cross-sectional area is Aannulus(h)=A_{\text{annulus}}(h) =   ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲   .

cone's inner radius at height h:
annular area formula:
6.

Using the hemisphere argument: a hemisphere of radius rr has the same volume as a cylinder-minus-cone (both with radius rr and height rr). Compute the hemisphere volume when r=3r = 3 cm. Express your answer in terms of π\pi.

C

Varied Practice

1.

Cavalieri's principle says two solids have equal volumes if, at every height, their cross-sections have equal area. Which statement is correct?

Hemisphere and cylinder-minus-cone side by side, each with a horizontal cross-section cut at height h
2.

In the Cavalieri argument for sphere volume, a hemisphere of radius rr is compared to a cylinder-minus-cone composite solid.

Which description correctly identifies the cone's orientation in the comparison solid?

Annular cross-section with outer radius 10 and inner radius 6, showing the ring region
3.

A hemisphere of radius r=10r = 10 cm and the cylinder-minus-cone comparison solid are sliced at height h=6h = 6 cm.

Complete: the hemisphere's cross-sectional area at h=6h = 6 is Ahemisphere=π(r2h2)=A_{\text{hemisphere}} = \pi(r^2 - h^2) =   ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲   . The annulus area is Aannulus=πr2πh2=A_{\text{annulus}} = \pi r^2 - \pi h^2 =   ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲   . The two areas are   ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲   .

hemisphere cross-sectional area:
annulus cross-sectional area:
relationship between the two areas:
4.

An oblique cylinder is a cylinder whose axis is tilted rather than vertical. Cavalieri's principle implies that an oblique cylinder with radius rr and vertical height hh has the same volume as a right cylinder with radius rr and height hh. Why?

D

Word Problems

1.

A spherical water tank at a summer camp has a radius of 9 m. Camp staff need to know how much water it can hold.

Using the sphere volume formula V=43πr3V = \frac{4}{3}\pi r^3, find the exact volume of the tank in terms of π\pi.

2.

Tomás is verifying the sphere volume formula by using the Cavalieri argument. He uses a hemisphere of radius r=6r = 6 cm compared to a cylinder (radius 6 cm, height 6 cm) with a cone (radius 6 cm, height 6 cm) removed from the interior.

1.

Compute the volume of the cylinder in terms of π\pi.

2.

Compute the volume of the cone in terms of π\pi.

3.

By Cavalieri's principle, the hemisphere volume equals the cylinder volume minus the cone volume. Use this to find the full sphere volume in terms of π\pi.

3.

Two stacks of books have the same height. Each book in the first stack is rectangular with a base of 100 cm². Each book at the same level in the second stack is circular with an area of 100 cm². Both stacks have 20 books.

By Cavalieri's principle, if the first stack has total volume 2000 cm³, what is the volume of the second stack?

E

Error Analysis

1.

A student is computing the annular cross-sectional area of the cylinder-minus-cone comparison solid at height hh.

Student's work:

"The cylinder has outer radius rr, and the cone's cross-section at height hh has inner radius (rh)(r - h) (since the cone gets smaller as you go up). So the annulus area is:
Aannulus(h)=πr2π(rh)2A_{\text{annulus}}(h) = \pi r^2 - \pi(r-h)^2
This is not equal to π(r2h2)\pi(r^2 - h^2), so Cavalieri's principle cannot apply."

What error did the student make? Which choice correctly identifies the mistake and gives the right annulus area?

2.

A student is deriving the sphere volume from the Cavalieri argument.

Student's work:

"By Cavalieri's principle, the hemisphere has the same volume as the cylinder minus the cone.
Vcylinder=πr3V_{\text{cylinder}} = \pi r^3
Vcone=13πr3V_{\text{cone}} = \frac{1}{3}\pi r^3
So the sphere volume is πr313πr3=23πr3\pi r^3 - \frac{1}{3}\pi r^3 = \frac{2}{3}\pi r^3."

What error did the student make?

F

Challenge

1.

The sphere volume formula is V=43πr3V = \frac{4}{3}\pi r^3. Trace the arithmetic of the Cavalieri derivation to explain, in your own words, where the fraction 43\frac{4}{3} comes from. Your explanation should identify the two steps that produce this factor.

2.

An oblique prism and a right rectangular prism both have a rectangular base of length 8 cm and width 5 cm, and both have vertical height 12 cm. The oblique prism's lateral faces are tilted at an angle.

By Cavalieri's principle, what is the volume of the oblique prism in cm³?

0 of 22 answered