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Volume of spheres

Learning goals

  • Finds a sphere’s volume from its radius.
  • Distinguishes a sphere's radius from its diameter.
  • Finds a sphere's radius or diameter from its volume.
  • Expresses volume in cubic units.

Click problems to add them to your worksheet.

Volume of spheres 1
Find the exact volume of the sphere shown.
Figure for problem 551251

Hints

- Read the radius from the diagram. - Use the sphere volume formula. - Keep \(\pi\) in the exact answer.

Solution

From the diagram, the radius is \(3\,\text{cm}\). Using \(V=\frac{4}{3}\pi r^3\), \(V=\frac{4}{3}\pi\cdot3^3=36\pi\,\text{cm}^3\).

Answer

\(36\pi\,\text{cm}^3\)
Volume of spheres 2
A sphere has radius \(r\). Write a formula for its volume.

Hints

- Think about the standard volume relationship for a sphere rather than a surface-area formula. - Check that the radius appears with the power expected for a three-dimensional measurement.

Solution

1. The volume formula for a sphere is \(V=\frac{4}{3}\pi r^3\).

Answer

\(V=\frac{4}{3}\pi r^3\)
Volume of spheres 3
Does the marked measurement show the sphere's radius or its diameter? Find both and explain how you know.
Figure for problem 560016

Hints

- Does the marked segment stop at the center or continue to the other side? - How do a radius and diameter of the same circle compare?

Solution

1. The marked segment runs all the way across the sphere through its center, so it shows the diameter. 2. The radius goes only from the center to the surface, so \(r=10\div2=5\,\text{cm}\).

Answer

The marked segment crosses the whole sphere through its center, so it is the diameter, \(10\,\text{cm}\). The radius is half of that, \(5\,\text{cm}\).
Volume of spheres 4
Leo writes \(\text{cm}^2\) for the units of \(V=\frac{4}{3}\pi r^3\), where \(r\) is in centimeters. What units should he use? Explain using \(r^3\).

Hints

- What kind of units count the space inside a solid rather than its surface? - If the radius were \(2\,\text{cm}\), what units would accompany its third power?

Solution

1. Cubing a length multiplies three centimeter measurements, so \(r^3\) has units \(\text{cm}^3\). 2. The number \(\frac{4}{3}\pi\) does not change the units. 3. The volume is therefore measured in cubic centimeters.

Answer

Cubic centimeters, \(\text{cm}^3\), because the radius is cubed.
Volume of spheres 5
A sphere's radius is doubled. How does its volume change? Explain using the exponent in the volume formula.

Hints

- Identify which part of the formula changes. - The radius appears three times in \(r^3\). What happens to each factor when the radius doubles?

Solution

1. Sphere volume is \(\frac{4}{3}\pi r^3\). 2. Replacing \(r\) by \(2r\) changes \(r^3\) to \((2r)^3=8r^3\). 3. The volume is multiplied by \(8\).

Answer

The volume is multiplied by \(8\), because \((2r)^3=8r^3\).
Volume of spheres 6
A sphere has diameter \(10\,\text{cm}\). Find its exact volume in terms of \(\pi\).

Hints

- Convert the diameter to a radius first. - The radius is cubed in the sphere volume formula. - Leave \(\pi\) in the exact answer.

Solution

The radius is \(10\div2=5\,\text{cm}\). Then \(V=\frac{4}{3}\pi r^3=\frac{4}{3}\pi\cdot5^3=\frac{500\pi}{3}\,\text{cm}^3\).

Answer

\(\frac{500\pi}{3}\,\text{cm}^3\)
Volume of spheres 7
Find the exact volume of the sphere shown.
Figure for problem 551253

Hints

- Check whether the marked segment is the full width of the sphere. - Use half the diameter as the radius. - Cube the radius in the sphere-volume formula.

Solution

1. The displayed diameter is \(12\,\text{cm}\), so the radius is \(6\,\text{cm}\). 2. Substitute into the sphere formula: \(V=\frac{4}{3}\pi\cdot6^3=288\pi\,\text{cm}^3\).

Answer

\(288\pi\,\text{cm}^3\).
Volume of spheres 8
A hemispherical container has an interior shaped exactly like half of a sphere with interior radius \(6\,\text{cm}\). Find its capacity exactly in cubic centimeters in terms of \(\pi\).

Hints

- Find the volume of the corresponding full sphere first. - Use the fact that a hemisphere is one of two equal halves of a sphere.

Solution

1. A full sphere of radius \(6\,\text{cm}\) has volume \(V=\frac{4}{3}\pi\cdot6^3=288\pi\,\text{cm}^3\). 2. A hemisphere has half that volume, so \(V=144\pi\,\text{cm}^3\).

Answer

\(144\pi\,\text{cm}^3\)
Volume of spheres 9
Find the sphere's volume in terms of \(\pi\). Use \(V=\frac{4}{3}\pi r^3\).
Figure for problem 560018

Hints

- Does the marked measurement stop at the center or continue to the opposite side? - What distance from the center does the formula call \(r\)? - How can you check whether the final volume has the correct units?

Solution

1. The diagram gives diameter \(6\,\text{cm}\), so the radius is \(3\,\text{cm}\). 2. Substitute: \(V=\frac{4}{3}\pi\cdot3^3\). 3. Simplify to \(V=36\pi\,\text{cm}^3\).

Answer

\(36\pi\,\text{cm}^3\).
Volume of spheres 10
A sphere has volume \(288\pi\,\text{cm}^3\). Find its radius and diameter.

Hints

- Substitute the known volume into the sphere formula. - Isolate \(r^3\) before taking a cube root. - Once the radius is known, relate it to the diameter.

Solution

Substitute into \(V=\frac{4}{3}\pi r^3\): \(288\pi=\frac{4}{3}\pi r^3\). Cancel \(\pi\) and multiply by \(\frac{3}{4}\): \(r^3=216\). Thus \(r=6\,\text{cm}\), so the diameter is \(12\,\text{cm}\).

Answer

Radius: \(6\,\text{cm}\); diameter: \(12\,\text{cm}\)
Volume of spheres 11
Sphere B has three times the radius of sphere A. Without choosing numerical radii, determine how many times as large sphere B's volume is as sphere A's volume. Explain from the volume formula.

Hints

- Keep the original radius as a variable. - Replace the new radius by \(3r\) in the sphere formula. - Pay attention to the exponent on the radius.

Solution

Let sphere A have radius \(r\), so \(V_A=\frac{4}{3}\pi r^3\). Sphere B has radius \(3r\), so \(V_B=\frac{4}{3}\pi(3r)^3=27\left(\frac{4}{3}\pi r^3\right)=27V_A\). Therefore, tripling the radius multiplies the volume by \(27\).

Answer

Sphere B has \(27\) times the volume of sphere A.
Volume of spheres 12
The solid glass ornament shown is spherical. Find its volume to the nearest tenth of a cubic centimeter.
Figure for problem 551256

Hints

- Read the sphere's radius from the diagram. - Cube the radius before multiplying by the remaining factors. - Round only the final volume.

Solution

From the diagram, the radius is \(4.5\,\text{cm}\). Then \(V=\frac{4}{3}\pi(4.5)^3=121.5\pi\,\text{cm}^3\approx381.7\,\text{cm}^3\).

Answer

About \(381.7\,\text{cm}^3\)
Volume of spheres 13
Sphere B has exactly \(8\) times the volume of sphere A. If the radius of sphere B is \(k\) times the radius of sphere A, find \(k\).

Hints

- Represent the new radius as a scale factor times the original radius. - Track how that scale factor is affected by the exponent in the sphere volume formula. - Work backward from the given volume factor.

Solution

1. Sphere volume is proportional to the cube of the radius, so the volume scale factor is \(k^3\). 2. Since the volume factor is \(8\), \(k^3=8\). 3. Therefore, \(k=2\).

Answer

\(k=2\)
Volume of spheres 14
A ball is \(8\,\text{cm}\) across. Leo uses \(V=\frac{4}{3}\pi\cdot8^3\) to find its volume. Explain his mistake and find the correct volume in terms of \(\pi\).

Hints

- Which length does the sphere formula require? - Does a measurement all the way across a ball match that length? - Check the units in your final volume.

Solution

1. The \(8\,\text{cm}\) distance across the ball is its diameter, not its radius. 2. The radius is \(4\,\text{cm}\), so the correct formula is \(V=\frac{4}{3}\pi\cdot4^3\). 3. The correct volume is \(\frac{256}{3}\pi\,\text{cm}^3\).

Answer

Leo used the diameter as the radius. The correct volume is \(\frac{256}{3}\pi\,\text{cm}^3\).
Volume of spheres 15
A sphere and a cylinder are shown. a) Show that the two displayed solids have equal volume. b) For a sphere and cylinder with any common radius \(r\), what cylinder height \(h\) makes their volumes equal?
Figure for problem 551257

Hints

- Read the dimensions from the two solids before computing either volume. - Use the sphere and cylinder volume formulas separately. - For part b, set the two general formulas equal. - Cancel only factors that are nonzero for a genuine solid.

Solution

1. From the diagram, both solids have radius \(3\,\text{cm}\), and the cylinder has height \(4\,\text{cm}\). The sphere volume is \(\frac{4}{3}\pi\cdot3^3=36\pi\,\text{cm}^3\). The cylinder volume is \(\pi\cdot3^2\cdot4=36\pi\,\text{cm}^3\), so they are equal. 2. Set the general volumes equal: \(\frac{4}{3}\pi r^3=\pi r^2h\). For \(r>0\), cancel \(\pi r^2\) to get \(h=\frac{4}{3}r\).

Answer

a) Both volumes are \(36\pi\,\text{cm}^3\). b) \(h=\frac{4}{3}r\)

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