How do you use the method of cylindrical shells to find the volume of the solid obtained by rotating the region bounded by #y^2=8x# and x=2 revolved about the x=4?

1 Answer
May 21, 2018

Please see below.

Explanation:

Here is a sketch of the region. To use shells, we'll take a representative slice parallel to the axis of rotation. (Parallel to the line #x=4#.)

enter image source here

The slice is taken at some value of #x#.

The volume of the representative shell is #2pirhxx"thickness"#

In this case,

#"thickness" = dx#

the radius #r# is shown as a dotted black line segment from the slice at #x# to the line at #4#. So, #r = 4-x#

The height of the slice is the upper #y# value minus the lower #y# value.
Solving #y^2=8x#, we see that #y_"upper" = sqrt(8x)# and #y_"lower" = -sqrt(8x)#.
So, #h = sqrt(8x) - (-sqrt(8x)) = 2sqrt(8x)#

The volume of the representative shell is #2pi(4-x)(2sqrt(8x))dx#

#x# varies from #0# to #2#, so the volume of the solid is

#V = int_0^2 2 pi (4-x)(4sqrt(2x))dx#

# = 8pisqrt2 int_0^2 (4-x)sqrtx \ dx#

# = 896/15 pi#