The Polar Planimeter

Polar Planimeters are mechanical instruments that can measure the area of closed regions in a plane.
Typical applications include the area measurement of irregular geographical regions on maps or
features on enlarged photographs of biological specimens.

A schematic diagram of a polar planimeter is shown in Figure 1 below. It is comprised of a ruler with
two arms hinged together. One leg of length w has one end pinned at the origin with the opposite
hinged end free to slide along the plane. We shall refer to this arm as the pole arm. The other leg of
length L has a stylus at the free end that traces the perimeter of the region of interest. We shall refer to
this as the tracer arm.

On tracer arm there is fixed a wheel located a distance k from the hinge. Its axis is parallel to the
tracer arm. The wheel rotates when there is a component of the tracer arm’s motion that is directed
normal to the tracer arm. Any motion of the tracer arm that has a component directed parallel to the
arm results in the wheel sliding along the surface. In general, the motion of the stylus results in the
wheel simultaneously exhibiting both rolling and sliding to varying degrees. The wheel has a gauge
that records the net distance it rolls. Note that the trace of any boundary will result in some
“backtracking” of the wheel. Backtracking results in a subtraction from the forward accumulated
distance and leads to the wheel registering a “net” rolling distance.1

Figure 1. Schematics diagram of a polar planimeter.

1
The valid application of the planimeter requires that the angle between the arms remain less than π for all
points along the trace. Also, a partial trace of a closed region does not yield a partial area.
28 (continued)

The planimeter’s principle of operation derives from Green’s Theorem, which states that for a simply
connected region R with a piecewise smooth boundary C, and oriented counterclockwise, then

v &
# F " dvr = ## ('$$Nx % $$My )*dA (1)
C R

v v v
where F = M(x,y) i + N(x,y) j is a vector field lying in region R for which M and N have
v
continuous partial derivatives
v and dr represents a differential segment length vector of the boundary
v v r . If the
defined byv the curve
v v
boundary is expressed in terms of the parameter t as
r = x(t) i + y(t) j then dr = r"(t)dt and we can rewrite Green’s Theorem as

v '
$ F " vr#(t)dt = $$ )(%%Nx & %%My *+ dA (2)
C R

Now, for the right hand side of equation (2) to be directly related to the area of the region R, then it
must be that

"N "M
# =$ (3)
"x " y

where " is a constant. In such a special case Green’s Theorem becomes

v
$ F " vr#(t)dt = $$ % dA = %A (4)
C R

v v
Now this imposes quite a restriction on F . Yet, incredibly, it turns out that the same vector field F
that when integrated around the boundary represents the net distance the planimeter wheel rotates, is
also a vector field that satisfies this restriction. Incredible, isn’t it? The objective of this Special
Assignment problem is for you to show that this is true and to derive the formula that relates the net
distance the wheel rolls as the planimeter stylus makes one full counterclockwise trace of the region’s
perimeter to the region’s area.

(a) The distance the wheel rotates when the end of the tracer arm moves through a differential
v v
displacement dr (or r "(t)dt ) is equal to the magnitude of the projection of this displacement onto a
unit vector that is directed normal to the tracer arm (which is also normal to the wheel’s axis).
v v v
Let this normal unit vector be designated by the vector F = M i + N j . Write the expressions for M
and N (Hint: they are both simple trigonometric functions of θ) and then convince yourself that the
path integral on the left side of equation (4) gives the total net distance that the wheel rotates as the
stylus traces the entire boundary of the region R. That is
v
Dwheel = $ F " rv#(t)dt (5)
C

where Dwheel is the total forward distance the wheel rotates as the tracer arm stylus makes one
counterclockwise circuit of the boundary’s perimeter. Explain in words why this is so.
 28 (continued)

(b) Comparing equation (5) to the form of the Green’s Theorem in equation (2) produces the result

$
Dwheel = )) &%""Nx # ""My '( dA (7)
R

v Dwheelv
Now, to find the relationship between and the area of the region, we only need to show that the
v
restriction of equation (3) holds for F = M i + N j .

Recognizing that M and N are both functions of θ and that θ is in turn a function of x and y use the
"N "M
chain rule for partial derivatives to write expressions for and
"x "y

"N "M "#

(c) To show that # = k we must determine and and take the difference. This requires
"x " y x "y
that we first recognize
v that the region’s boundary curve may be expressed as a vector-valued function
v v
r = x(t) i + y(t) j where x(t) and y(t) can be expressed in terms of of w, L, θ(t) and φ(t). Write
these parametric equations for x(t) and y(t).

(d) Compute the total differentials dx and dy in terms of the variables " and " and the constants w and L
(assume t is constant).

(e) Solve the parametric equations derived in (d) simultaneously to give expressions for d" and d" .

"# "#
(f) From the expressions for d" and d" found in part (e) determine and .
"x "y

#" #"
Hint 1: d" = dx + dy
#x #y
Hint 2: You will eventually only need to use one of them.

"N "M
(g) By substituting the results of part (f) into equations for and you found in part (b) and taking
! "x "y
their difference, show that

"N "M 1
# =
"x "y L

(h) Using this result, show that the area of the traced region is given by

A = LDwheel

! !
29. Lateral Surface Area “Exploration”2

The Figure in your text on page 1028 under the “Exploration” project shows a piece of tin that has
been cut from a circular cylinder. The base of the cylinder can be modeled by the equation
x 2 + y2 = 9 (1)

where x and y are measured in inches. At any point (x, y) on the base, the height of the tin wall is
given by

"x
f (x,y) = 1+ cos (2)
4
(a) Determine the minimum height of the tin wall. Use analytical optimization methods from single
variable calculus.

(b) Let " be the angle measured counterclockwise from the positive x-axis to the line connecting the
origin to the point (x, y) on the base. Determine the angles along the base at which the height of
the tin wall is 1.5 inches tall.

(c) Write a line integral that yields the surface area of the piece of tin.

(d) Evaluate the integral using your TI-89 (Be patient while it calculates).

(e) Use Graphing Calculator 3.1 to graph the vector-valued function representing the curve defined by
the top edge of the tin wall.

Bonus

(f) Write a single variable function giving the height of the tin wall in terms of the distance s along its
perimeter starting from a point where the height is a minimum. Plot the graph using Graphing
Calculator 3.1 and print it. Label the axes.

(g) Integrate the function you found in part (f) to determine the area of the tin. Does it agree with the
result you obtained in part (d)? Did your TI-89 take a shorter or longer time to compute it?

2
Adapted from Calculus, by Larson Hostleler, and Edwards