Search the corpus

    Surface integral of $x^2+y+z$ over the unit sphere

    P-BKS80-11

    Area
    Prelim
    Seen at
    BERKELEY
    Years
    1980
    Status
    draft

    Let \[ S=\{(x,y,z)\in\RR^3:x^2+y^2+z^2=1\}. \] Evaluate \[ \iint_S (x^2+y+z)\,dA. \]

    Solution

    1. The linear terms have zero surface integral:\[ \iint_S y\,dA=0, \qquad \iint_S z\,dA=0. \]

    Reflection across the plane \(y=0\) preserves the sphere and its area measure while replacing \(y\) by \(-y\). Hence the integral of \(y\) is its own negative and is therefore zero. Reflection across \(z=0\) gives the same argument for \(z\).

    2. One has\[ \iint_S x^2\,dA=\frac{4\pi}{3}. \]

    Rotations permuting the coordinate axes preserve \(S\) and its area measure, so \[ \iint_S x^2\,dA = \iint_S y^2\,dA = \iint_S z^2\,dA. \] Call this common value \(I\). Since \[ x^2+y^2+z^2=1 \] on \(S\), \[ 3I = \iint_S(x^2+y^2+z^2)\,dA = \iint_S1\,dA = \operatorname{area}(S) = 4\pi. \] Thus \(I=4\pi/3\).

    3. Therefore\[ \boxed{ \iint_S(x^2+y+z)\,dA=\frac{4\pi}{3}. } \]

    Combine steps 1 and 2.

    4. Q.E.D.

    Step 3 is the requested value.