Weekly Workshop Worksheet 3: Double Integrals

Things you need to know this week:

• Remember how Riemann sums work, and how to calculate the density using integration when a
density function is given.

• Understand how to extend this idea for density in a 2D space.

• Intuitively understand how double integration works in Cartesian coordinates.

• Write an iterated double integral, and change the order of integration.

• Write a double integral in polar coordinates.

• Evaluate double integrals in both polar and Cartesian coordinates.

Homework Problems

1. A seaside village, Playa del Carmen, is in the shape of a rectangle with sides of 4 miles and 6 miles.
The sea lies along a 6-mile long side. People prefer to live near the water, so the density of people
is given by ρ(x) = 1000(20 − x2 ) people per square mile, where x is the distance from the seaside.(1)
Without using any calculus, how could you approximate the population of the village?
If you come up with a method, here are some questions about it:

• How accurate is your method? If you needed a quick approximation that didn’t require too
much computation, could you come up with one? (Try!) What if you needed a really good
approximation and were willing to spend a ton of time on computation?

• How flexible is your method? For example,

√ if it was discovered in the next census that the density
function ρ(x) had changed to 500(40 − x), would your method still work?

2. Every integral can be thought of as the result of

Z Za slice-approximate-sum-take a limit process. In this
problem, we’ll think about the double integral 1 dA in terms of this process.
R

(a) What’s being sliced?

(b) What’s being approximated?

ZZ
(c) What does the double integral 1 dA represent?
R

3. A city is shaped like the region R in R2 consisting of all points (x, y) with x2 + y 2 ≤ 4 and x ≥ 0, where
the axes are marked in miles. Suppose the population density at any point (x, y) in the city Z Z is given by
f (x, y) = 1000ex sin y people per square mile. In this problem, we’ll understand what f (x, y) dA
R
represents in this context.
(1) The symbol ρ is the Greek letter “rho” and is pronounced “row” (as in “Row, row, row your boat”).

1
 ZZ
(a) The double integral f (x, y) dA can be thought of as the result of a slice-calculate-sum-take a
R
limit process. What’s being sliced, and how is it being sliced?

(b) On each slice, we calculate f (x, y)∆A for some point (x, y) in this slice. In this problem, what
does this tell us (approximately) about the slice? What are its units?

(c) If you sum these f (x, y)∆A values for every slice, what are you approximating?
ZZ
(d) What does f (x, y) dA represent? What are its units?
R

ZZ
4. Let R be the region bounded by y = x2 and y = 1. Write the double integral f (x, y) dA as an
R
iterated integral in both possible orders.
1

−1 1
ZZ
y2 x2
5. Let R be the region enclosed by 2 − 8 = −2 and y = ±6. Write the double integral f (x, y) dA
R
as an iterated integral. Which order is easier, and why?

−4 4

−6

6. In each part, you’re given an iterated integral. Change the order of integration. Whenever you change
the order of integration, please include a sketch of the region of integration.
Z 5 Z 2x−6
(a) f (x, y) dy dx
3 0
Z 1 Z e
(b) f (u, v) du dv
0 ev
Z 5 Z 6
(c) f (x, y) dx dy
1 3
√
Z 4 Z y
(d) f (x, y) dx dy where w is a constant between 1 and 4.
w 1

7. A village is in the shape of the region R in the first quadrant lying between the circles x2 + y 2 = 1 and
x2 + y 2 = 4; the axes are marked in miles. The population density at (x, y) is 150(x + y) people per
square mile. Find the population of the village.

2
 y
2

x
1 2

8. Below are two iterated integrals in Cartesian coordinates. Rewrite one of them as an iterated integral
in polar coordinates. (Choose the easier one! What makes it easier?)
√ √
1 16−x2 2 16−x2
√ √
Z Z Z Z
√ x y dy dx √ x y dy dx
0 x 3 0 x 3

3
Quiz Problems
ZZ
1. Evaluate the integral DA where D is the region bounded by the curves y = x2 , y = x+2, y = −x.
D

2. Let R be the region in R2 that is the portion of x2 + y 2 ≤ 4 in the second quadrant.

ZZ
(a) Without calculating, is x3 y 3 dA positive, negative, or 0? How do you know?
R
ZZ
(b) Evaluate x3 y 3 dA.
R

3. A flat plate is in the shape of the region R defined by the inequalities x2 + y 2 ≤ 4, 0 ≤ y ≤ 1, x ≤ 0.

The density of the plate at the point (x, y) is −xy. Find the mass of the plate.

Z 1 Z √1−y2
4. Change the order of integration and evaluate the integral: √ y dxdy
−1 − 1−y 2

ZZ
5. The region D is shown in the following figure. Evaluate the double integral x2 + y DA by using
D
the easier order of integration.

ZZ
6. Evaluate the integral DA where D is the region bounded by the part of the four-leaved rose
D
r = sin(2θ) situated in the first quadrant (see the following figure).