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A sphere of radius r is cut by a plane h units above the equator, where

h < r.

Find the volume of solid (spherical segment) above the plane.

Verified Answer :

Consider the top half of a sphere centered at the origin with radius \(r\), which can be described by the equation

\(z=\sqrt{r^2-x^2-y^2}\)

and consider a plane

\(z=h\)

with \(0. Call the region between the two surfaces \(R\). The volume of \(R\) is given by the triple integral

\(\displaystyle\iiint_R\mathrm dV=\int_{-\sqrt{r^2-h^2}}^{\sqrt{r^2-h^2}}\int_{-\sqrt{r^2-h^2-x^2}}^{\sqrt{r^2-h^2-x^2}}\int_h^{\sqrt{r^2-x^2-y^2}}\mathrm dz\,\mathrm dy\,\mathrm dx\)

Converting to polar coordinates will help make this computation easier. Set

\(\begin{cases}x=\rho\cos\theta\sin\varphi\\y=\rho\sin\theta\sin\varphi\\z=\rho\cos\var\phi\end{cases}\implies\mathrm dx\,\mathrm dy\,\mathrm dz=\rho^2\sin\varphi\,\mathrm d\rho\,\mathrm d\theta\,\mathrm d\varphi\)

Now, the volume can be computed with the integral

\(\displaystyle\iiint_R\mathrm dV=\int_0^{2\pi}\int_0^{\arctan\frac{\sqrt{r^2-h^2}}h}\int_{h\sec\varphi}^r\rho^2\sin\varphi\,\mathrm d\rho\,\mathrm d\varphi\,\mathrm d\theta\)

You should get

\(\dfrac{2\pi}3\left(r^3\arctan\dfrac{\sqrt{r^2-h^2}}h-\dfrac{h^3}2\left(\dfrac{r\sqrt{r^2-h^2}}{h^2}+\ln\dfrac{r+\sqrt{r^2-h^2}}h\right)\right)\)