2 Surface integrals

2.1 Surfaces in R
3
Figure 2.1:
a. There are several possibilities to describe surface in the space.
The simplest way is to use the explicit form, that is to dene
surface as a graph of some function z = f(x, y).
Example 2.1 Graph of f(x, y) = e
x
2
y
2
sin xy, x [1, 1],
y [1, 1] determines the surface of g. 2.1.

r
Figure 2.2:
Another standard way is to use the implicit form. In this case
we dene surface with the help of the equation F(x, y, z) = 0.
Example 2.2 The ellipsoid with radii a, b and c in R
3
is given
implicitly by
x
2
a
2
+
y
2
b
2
+
z
2
c
2
= 1,
see g. 2.2.
Figure 2.3:
Example 2.3 The cylinder with radii a and b is given implicitly
by
x
2
a
2
+
y
2
b
2
= 1,
see g. 2.3.
Finally, we can use the parametric form to describe a surface.
Denition 2.1 Let
r(u, v) = i x(u, v) +j y(u, v) +k z(u, v), (2.1)
be a vector valued function dened in a set D R
2
. The range S
of r(u, v) is called the surface traces by r. The set D and the
equation (2.1) constitutes a parametrization of the surface. The
variables u and v are called the parameters, and D is called the
parameter domain.
Example 2.4 Find parametrization of the sphere x
2
+ y
2
+ z
2
= a
2
.
Solution: In spherical coordinates any point on the sphere is given by
x(, ) = a cos sin , y(, ) = a sin sin, z(, ) = a cos ,
where [0, 2] and [0, ]. Hence, the parametrization is given by
r(, ) = i a cos sin +j a sin sin + k a cos , [0, 2], [0, ].
37
Example 2.5 Find parametrization of the ellipsoid
x
2
a
2
+
y
2
b
2
+
z
2
c
2
= a
2
,
see g. 2.2.
Solution: A point on the ellipsoid has the coordinates
x(, ) = a cos sin , y(, ) = b sin sin , z(, ) = c cos ,
where [0, 2] and [0, ]. Hence, the parametrization is given by
r(, ) = i a cos sin +j b sin sin +k c cos , [0, 2], [0, ].
Example 2.6 Find parametrization of the cone
z
2
=
x
2
a
2
+
y
2
b
2
,
where z [0, h], see g. 2.4.

z
r
Figure 2.4:
Solution: A typical point on the cone has the coordinates
x(r, ) = ar cos , y(r, ) = br sin , z(r, ) =
_
x
2
a
2
+
y
2
b
2
= r,
where r [0, h] and [0, 2]. Hence, the parametrization is given by
r(r, ) = i ar cos +j br sin +k r, r [0, h], [0, 2].
b. In the course we deal with smooth surfaces.
Denition 2.2 A parametric surface r(u, v) = i x(u, v) +j y(u, v) +k z(u, v) is smooth
if r
u
and r
v
are continuous and r
u
r
v
is non zero on the parameter domain.
The condition r
u
r
v
= 0 implies that two vectors r
u
and r
v
are not parallel and never
zero, so they always span a tangent plane to the surface.
Example 2.7 A sphere, a paraboloid and a cylinder are smooth surfaces. The cone of
example 2.6 is not smooth since r
r
r

= i br cos +j ar sin +k abr = 0 when r = 0.

38
2.2 Surface integrals
x
y
z
s

i
S
Figure 2.5:
a. The notion of surface integrals is introduced in the
same way as the notion of line integrals with respect to
arc length.
Denition 2.3 Let S R
3
be a surface and let f :
S R be a real valued function. Consider a nite
partition P = {
0
,
1
, . . . ,
n
} of S into n patches (see
g. 2.5). Let
i
denote the area of i-th patch and let
P = max
1in

i
denote the norm of the partition.
For each patch we choose arbitrary point s

i
and form
the integral sum
S
n
=
n

i=1
f(s

i
)
i
.
The surface integral of f over the surface S is given by
lim
P0
S
n
= lim
P0
n

i=1
f(s

i
)
i
=
__
S
fd, (2.2)
if this limit exists.
Remark 2.1 In the formula (2.2) symbol S indicates the domain of integration, f is the
integrand and d denotes the area element on S.
Remark 2.2 A surface integral (2.2) is additive, i.e. if a surface S made by joining of a
nite number of surfaces S = S
1
S
2
. . . S
n
=
n

i=1
S
i
, then the integral of a function f
over S is the sum of integrals over the surfaces that make it up
__
S
fd =
n

i=1
__
S
i
fd.
Remark 2.3 If we let f(x, y, z) = 1, then surface integral (2.2) gives the area A of the
surface S, i.e.
A =
__
S
d.
b. In order to make abstract denition 2.3 practical we must answer two important
questions. The rst question is: what conditions guarantee the existence of a surface
integral (2.2)? The second one is: how to evaluate this integral? To answer the rst
question it is sucient to assume that S is a smooth surface and f is continuous in S. The
answer to the second question depends on the form of denition of S. We begin our study
with the implicitly dened surfaces.
39
Theorem 2.1 Let S R
3
be a smooth surface dened implicitly by the equation F(x, y, z) =
c, let D R
2
be a projection of S onto the (x, y)-plane, and let f : S R be a continuous
function, then the surface integral of f over S exists and its value is given by the formula:
__
S
fd =
__
D
f
F
|F k |
dxdy, (2.3)
where |F k | = 0.
x y
z

i
P
i
S
D
F
k

i
Figure 2.6:
Proof: By the denition of surface integrals we have
__
S
fd = lim
P0
n

i=1
f(s

i
)
i
,
where P =
0
,
1
, . . . ,
n
is a partition of S. In order
to prove the theorem we have to evaluate the area
i
of the patch
i
, see g. 2.6.
First, we observe that any nite partition of S in-
duces the nite partition P

= {

0
,

1
, . . . ,

n
} of the
shadow region D in such a way that

i
D is a shadow
region for the patch
i
S.
Second, let s

i
= (x
i
, y
i
, z
i
) be a point on the patch

i
. If the norm of the partition P is small then the area of the patch is approximately
equal to the area P
i
of the parallelogram P
i
on the tangent plane of S at s

i
, see g. 2.6.
From the basic geometrical considerations it follows that
P
i
| cos
i
| =

i
,
where
i
is the angle between the normal vector to the surface S at s

i
and the normal
vector to the patch

i
, see g. 2.6. Observe that gradient F(s

i
) is normal to S, and k
is normal to

i
. Since |F(s

i
) k | = F(s

i
)k | cos
i
| = F(s

i
)| cos
i
|, we obtain

i
P
i
=

i
| cos
i
|
=
F(s

i
)
|F(s

i
) k |

i
.
Third, substituting this expression into the integral sum we obtain
S
n

n

i=1
f(s

i
)
F(s

i
)
|F(s

i
) k |

i
.
The right hand side of the last formula is a Riemann sum of f
F
|F k |
with respect to
the partition P

of D. Taking a limit of S
n
as P 0 we obtain
__
S
fd =
__
D
f
F
|F k |
dxdy.
The double integral over D exists because f
F
|F k |
is continuous on D.
40
Example 2.8 Find integral of f(x, y, z) = z over the surface cut from the paraboloid
x
2
+ y
2
z = 0 by the plane z = 4, see g. 2.7.
Figure 2.7:
Solution: The shadow area of the paraboloid is given by the
circle x
2
+ y
2
4. The gradient is
F = (x
2
+ y
2
z) = i 2x +j 2y k ,
norm of the gradient
F =
_
4x
2
+ 4y
2
+ 1,
and |F k | = | 1| = 1. For the paraboloid z = x
2
+ y
2
, thus, using (2.3) we obtain
__
S
zd =
__
D
(x
2
+ y
2
)
_
4x
2
+ 4y
2
+ 1dxdy =
_
2
0
_
2
0
r
3

1 + 4r
2
ddr
= 2
_
2
0
r
3

1 + 4r
2
dr =

16
_
17
1
(u 1)

udu =

16
_
2
5
u
5/2

2
3
u
3/2
_

17
1
=
391

17 + 1
60
.
Note that we have used polar coordinates to evaluate the double integral above.
Example 2.9 Find the area of the surface cut from the hemisphere x
2
+ y
2
+ z
2
= 2,
z 0, by the plane z = 1, see g. 2.8.
Figure 2.8:
Solution: The projection of the surface S onto (x, y)-plane is the
annulus 1 x
2
+y
2
2. The gradient of F(x, y, z) = x
2
+y
2
+z
2
2
is
F = (x
2
+ y
2
+ z
2
2) = i 2x +j 2y +k 2z,
norm of the gradient
F =
_
4x
2
+ 4y
2
+ 4z
2
= 2
_
x
2
+ y
2
+ z
2
= 2

2,
and |F k | = |2z| = 2z. For the hemisphere we have z =
_
2 x
2
y
2
, and using (2.3)
we obtain
A =
__
S
d =

2
__
D
dxdy
z
=

2
__
D
dxdy
_
2 x
2
y
2
=

2
_

2
1
_
2
0
r

2 r
2
ddr
= 2

2
_

2
1
r

2 r
2
dr = 2

2
_
(2 r
2
)
1/2
_

2
1
= 2

2.
Note that we have used polar coordinates to evaluate the double integral above.
41
In theorem 2.1 we have assumed that the shadow region (projection) of S belongs to the
(x, y)-plane. But we can also project S onto (x, z), (y, z) or any other planes. If D denotes
a projection of S onto arbitrary plane then formula (2.3) must be modied as follows:
__
S
fd =
__
D
f
F
|F p|
dA. (2.3

)
where p is a unit vector normal to D and dA is the area element in D.
Example 2.10 Find the area of the hemisphere x
2
+ y
2
+ z
2
= 1, y 0, see g. 2.9.
Figure 2.9:
Solution: Projecting the hemisphere onto (x, z)-plane we see
that the shadow region is given by the disk x
2
+ z
2
1. The
gradient of F(x, y, z) = x
2
+ y
2
+ z
2
1 is
F = (x
2
+ y
2
+ z
2
1) = i 2x +j 2y +k 2z,
norm of the gradient
F =
_
4x
2
+ 4y
2
+ 4z
2
= 2
_
x
2
+ y
2
+ z
2
= 2.
Since the shadow area D belongs to (x, z)-plane the unit vector normal to D is given by
j , for the area element we have dA = dxdz. In this example |F j | = |2y| = 2y and
y =

1 x
2
z
2
. Using formula (2.3

) we obtain
A =
__
S
d =
__
D
dxdz
y
=
__
D
dxdz

1 x
2
z
2
=
_
1
0
_
2
0
r

1 r
2
ddr
= 2
_
1
0
r

1 r
2
dr = 2
_
(1 r
2
)
1/2
_

1
0
= 2.
Here again we have used change to the polar coordinates.
c. Let us assume now that surface S is dened parametrically. In this situation we have
the following
Theorem 2.2 Let S R
3
be a smooth surface determined parametrically
r(u, v) = i x(u, v) +j y(u, v) +k z(u, v),
let D R
2
be a parameter domain, and let f : S R be a continuous function, then the
surface integral of f over S exists and its value is given by the formula:
__
S
fd =
__
D
f(x(u, v)), y(u, v), z(u, v))r
u
r
v
dudv. (2.4)
42

i
v
i
u
i
(u
i
, v
i
)
u
v
x y
z

i
P
i
S
r
v
v
i
r
u
u
i
Figure 2.10:
Proof: The idea of the proof is similar to that we have used to prove theorem 2.1. Given
a nite partition P =
0
,
1
, . . . ,
n
of S, in order to prove the theorem we have to evaluate
the area
i
of the i-th patch, see g. 2.10.
First, we observe that any nite partition of S induces the nite partition P

0
,

1
, . . . ,

n
of the parameter domain D in such a way that r(

i
) =
i
.
Second, let

i
be a small rectangle in D with sides u
i
and v
i
. In this case we obtain
that

i
= u
i
v
i
. Each side of

i
maps to a curve on the surface S and point (u
i
, v
i
)
maps to s

i
= (x
i
, y
i
, z
i
), see g. 2.10. The vectors r
u
(u
i
, v
i
) and r
v
(u
i
, v
i
) are tangent to
S at (x
i
, y
i
, z
i
), their cross product r
u
(u
i
, v
i
) r
v
(u
i
, v
i
) is orthogonal to S and never zero
because S is smooth. If the norm of the partition P is small then the area of the patch
i
is approximately equal to the area P
i
of the parallelogram on the tangent plane spanned
by vectors r
u
(u
i
, v
i
)u
i
and r
v
(u
i
, v
i
)v
i
. Using properties of cross product we obtain

i
P
i
= r
u
(u
i
, v
i
)u
i
r
v
(u
i
, v
i
)v
i
= r
u
(u
i
, v
i
) r
v
(u
i
, v
i
)u
i
v
i
.
Third, substituting this expression into the integral sum we obtain
S
n
lim
P0
n

i=1
f(r(u
i
, v
i
))r
u
(u
i
, v
i
) r
v
(u
i
, v
i
)u
i
v
i
,
The right hand side of the last formula is a Riemann sum of fr
u
r
v
with respect to
the partition P

of D. Taking a limit of S
n
as P 0 we obtain
__
S
fd =
__
D
f(x(u, v), y(u, v), z(u, v))r
u
r
v
dudv.
The double integral over D exists because S is smooth and f is continuous.
43
Example 2.11 Find the area A of the sphere x
2
+ y
2
+ z
2
= a
2
.
Solution: Parametrization of the sphere is given in the example 2.4. Let us evaluate
r

, we have
r

= i a sin sin +j a cos sin ,

r

= i a cos cos +j a sin cos k a sin ,

r

i j k
a sin sin a cos sin 0
a cos cos a sin cos a sin

= i a
2
cos sin
2
j a
2
sin sin
2
k a
2
sin cos ,
r

=
_
a
4
cos
2
sin
4
+ a
4
sin
2
sin
4
+ a
4
sin
2
cos
2

= a
2
sin
_
cos
2
sin
2
+ sin
2
sin
2
+ cos
2
= a
2
sin .
Using formula 2.4 we obtain
A =
__
S
d = a
2
_
2
0
_

0
sin dd = 2a
2
_

0
sin d = 4a
2
.
Example 2.12 Evaluate the integral
__
S
zd, where S is a surface cut from the cylinder
x
2
+ y
2
= 1 by the planes z = 0 and z = x + 1, see g. 2.11.
Figure 2.11:
Solution: The standard parametrization of the cylinder is given
by
r(, z) = i cos +j sin +k z.
Since 0 z x + 1 = cos + 1 the parameter domain D is given
by [0, 2] and z [0, cos + 1]. Let us evaluate r

r
z
, we
have
r

= i sin +j cos , r
z
= k ,
r

r
z
=

i j k
sin cos 0
0 0 1

= i cos +j sin ,
r

r
z
=
_
cos
2
+ sin
2
= 1.
Using (2.4) we obtain
__
S
zd =
__
D
zddz =
_
2
0
_
cos +1
0
zdzd =
1
2
_
2
0
(cos + 1)
2
d
=
1
2
_
2
0
_
1 + 2 cos +
1
2
(1 + cos 2)
_
d
=
1
2
_
3
2
+ 2 sin +
1
4
sin 2
_

2
0
=
3
2
.
44
2.2.1 Applications
Mass. If the density (mass per unit area) of a thin shell S is given by (x, y, z), then its
mass M is
M =
__
S
d. (2.5)
First moments about the coordinate planes.
M
xy
=
__
S
zd, M
xz
=
__
S
yd, M
yz
=
__
S
xd. (2.6)
Coordinates of the center of mass.
x = M
yz
/M, y = M
xz
/M, z = M
xy
/M. (2.7)
Moment of inertia and radius of gyration about a line. If r(x, y, z) denotes the
distance from (x, y, z) to a line , then moment of inertia and radius of gyration about the
line are given by
I

=
__
S
r
2
d and R

=
_
I

/M. (2.8)
Note that for axes x, y and z we have r
x
(x, y, z) =
_
y
2
+ z
2
, r
y
(x, y, z) =

x
2
+ z
2
, and
r
z
(x, y, z) =
_
x
2
+ y
2
respectively, thus,
I
x
=
__
S
(y
2
+ z
2
)d, I
y
=
__
S
(x
2
+ z
2
)d, I
z
=
__
S
(x
2
+ y
2
)d. (2.9)
Example 2.13 Evaluate mass of the cone z
2
= x
2
+y
2
, z [0, 1] if its density is given by
(x, y, z) = z.
Solution: The standard parametrization of the cone is given by
r(, z) = i z cos +j z sin +k z, [0, 2], z [0, 1].
We have
r

= i z sin +j z cos , r
z
= i cos +j sin +k ,
r

r
z
=

i j k
z sin z cos 0
cos sin 1

= i z cos +j z sin k z,
r

r
z
=
_
z
2
cos
2
+ z
2
sin
2
+ z
2
=

2z,
and
M =
__
S
zd =

2
_
1
0
_
2
0
z
2
ddz = 2

2
_
1
0
z
2
dz =
2

2
3
.
45
Example 2.14 Determine center of mass of the hemisphere x
2
+ y
2
+ z
2
= a
2
, z 0.
Assume that density is constant .
Solution: Radial symmetry of S about z-axis implies that x = 0 and y = 0. Let us
evaluate z. Parametrization of the sphere is given in example 2.4. For the upper hemisphere
we must assume that [0, 2] and [0, /2], using the result of example 2.11 we obtain
that
M =
__
S
d =
__
S
d = 2a
2
.
For the moment we have:
M
xy
=
__
S
zd =
__
S
zd =
_
2
0
_
/2
0
a
3
sin cos dd
=
a
3

4
_
2
0
cos 2

/2
0
d =
a
3

2
,
nally,
z =
M
xy
M
=
a
3

4a
2

=
a
4
.
46