Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University

Notes on Parametrically Dened Surfaces

Dr. E. Jacobs

We have seen that a vector equation of the form:

r = r(t)
denes a curve. As an example, consider the curve dened by:
r = x, y, z = 2t, 2t, 2(1 t2 )

for

0t1

The graph is a curve in three dimensions:

The equation r = r(t) is a vector-valued function of one variable. We will now consider
vector-valued functions of two variables.
r = r(u, v)
We will see that such equations describe surfaces. Consider, for example, the following
vector equation:
Example 1.

r = 4u uv, uv, 2(1 u2 )

where 0 u 1 0 v 4

Notice that if you substitute v = 2, you will the equation of the curve that we just plotted,
only with u given as the parameter instead of t. Any specic value of v that we substitute
gives us a vector-valued function of one variable. Therefore, if we substitute dierent values
of v, we will get dierent curves. For example, for v = 0, we get the curve:

Lets try it again for several other values of v

v=1

v=3

We could plug in specic values for u instead of v:

u = 0.25
u = 0.50

and nally for u = 1:

If we put all these curves together, we obtain a surface:

v=4

u = 0.75

Equations of the form r = r(u, v) provide a more general description of surfaces then you
have seen in MA 243. You are accustomed to describing surfaces in the form:
z = f (x, y)
However, if we dene the vector r in the following manner:
r = x, y, f (x, y)
then we have an equation of the form r = r(u, v) once again where u and v are simply x
and y.
Example 2. As another example, consider the cylindrical coordinate transformations that
you learned about in MA 243.
x = r cos

y = r sin

z=z

Suppose we take a specic value of r, say r = 1

x = cos

y = sin

z=z

These equations describe all points on a cylinder of radius 1 centered around the z-axis.
In vector form,
r = x, y, z = cos , sin , z
If we restrict and z so that 0 2 and 0 z 3 then we get an cylinder of height
3 with its base on the xy plane.

Notice that the parameters u and v are actually and z in this example.

Example 3. As a nal example, consider the spherical coordinate transformations that

you learned about in MA 243
x = cos sin

y = sin sin

z = cos

If we take a specic value of , say = 1, then all points (x, y, z) that satisfy the spherical
coordinate transformations will lie on the unit sphere centered around the origin. In vector
form:
r = cos sin , sin sin , cos
where 0 2 0

Notice that the parameters u and v are actually and .

Area of the Surface Element

The vector equation r(u, v) = x, y, z represents a transformation from a uv-plane to an
xyz-axis. The graph of all the points r(u, v) is a surface.

Suppose we subdivide a region of the uv-axis into a rectangular grid.

This automatically subdivides the surface r(u, v) into a grid.

Let us consider one rectangle on the uv grid. If the base of such a rectangle is u and
the height is v then the area is uv. We need to be able to calculate the area of the
corresponding section on the surface r = r(u, v). We will denote its area with the symbol
S.

The change u on the uv-axis corresponds to a change along a curve on the surface on
the xyz-axis. Let r be the vector denoting the change in position along this curve.

We may approximate r with a tangent vector.

r
r
r =
u
u
u
u
1.
Let us call this tangent vector T

r
x
y
z
1 =
T
u =
,
,
u
u
u u u
Similarly, the change v on the uv-axis corresponds to a change along another curve on
the surface on the xyz-axis that is approximated by the tangent vector:

r
x
y
z
2 =
T
v =
,
,
v
v
v v v

 1 T
2 is orthogonal to the surface.
The vector T
(
1 T
2 =
T

r
u
u

r
v
v


 i
 x
=  u
 x
v

j
y
u
y
v


k 

z 
u  uv
z 
v

1 and
The length of this cross product is equal to the area of the parallelogram that has T

T2 as the adjacent sides. This area is approximately the area of section of the surface. We
can see the nature of this approximation more clearly if we look more closely at the section
of the surface.

1 and T
2 are tangent vectors, the planar section they span is tangent to the surface,
Since T
 r r 
and so the quantity  u
v  uv is a tangent approximation of A. The smaller u
and v get, the better the approximation. We use the dierentials du and dv to represent
1 T
2 is given by:
small changes in the u and v variables. In this notation, the vector T
1 T
2 = r r du dv
T
u v
The length of this vector is denoted by dS


 r r 

dS =   du dv
u v
Total Surface Area
We have been looking at the area of one small section of a surface. What about the entire
surface? Let us suppose that u and v are conned to a region D in the uv-plane. Let S be
the surface dened by the equation r = r(u, v) when u and v are restricted to this region

D. We divide D into a rectangular grid by dividing the appropriate section of the u axis
into n equal intervals and the appropriate section of the v axis into m equal intervals. If
we focus on the ith interval along the u axis (1 i n) and the j th interval along the v
axis (1 j m) then the area of the corresponding section on S is approximated by the
expression:



 r
 (ui , vj ) r (ui , vj ) u v

 u
v
If we want an approximation of the entire surface area of S, we add up all such areas:

n
m 

r
 (ui , vj ) (ui , vj ) u v
Area(S)
 u

v
i=1 j=1
To get the exact surface area of S, we take the limit as n and m go to (and so u and
v go to 0). This gives us a double integral expression for surface area.



n
m 

 r r 
 r

r




Area of S = lim
 u v  du dv
 u (ui , vj ) v (ui , vj ) u v =
n,m
D
i=1 j=1
Lets try an example. Consider the surface described by the equation:
r = 4u uv, uv, 2(1 u2 )

where 0 u 1 0 v 4

This was the rst surface that we looked at on page 1.

r
r
calculate u
v

 i

r r

= 4 v, v, 4uu, u, 0 =  4 v
u v
 u

To nd the surface area, we rst

j
v
u


k 

4u  = 4u2 , 4u2 , 4u
0 

Next, we calculate the length of this cross product.




 r r 
  = 4u 1 + 2u2
 u v 
Finally, we are ready to integrate:
1 4

2
Area(S) =
4u 1 + 2u dv du = 16
0

8(
2
u 1 + 2u du =
3 31
3

There is a convenient shorthand that we use in place of the limit of the sum argument
that we went through above. We pretend that we have subdivided D into innitesimal
sections of area du dv. This subdivides S into innitesimals sections (surface elements) of
area
dS. The total area is regarded as the innite sum of these innitesimal areas. Using
the
notation to denote the summation operation, we have:



 r r 


Area(S) =
dS =
 u v  du dv
S
D

How does this expression for surface area compare to the one that you studied back in MA
243? In that course, the parameters u and v were simply x and y. The position vector r
is then x, y, z(x, y), since the z coordinate is a function of the x and y coordinates.

 i
r r  x

=
x y  x
x
y

j
y
x
y
y

k   i j
 
z 

x  =  1 0
z 
0 1
y


k 

z z
z 
i
j+k
x  =
x
y
z 
y



( )2 ( )2
 r r 
z
z
dS =   dx dy = 1 +
+
dx dy
x y
x
y
Therefore, the total surface area is:

Area(S) =

(
1+

z
x

)2

(
+

This expression will look familiar to you from MA 243,

z
y

)2
dx dy

Integrals of Scalar-Valued Functions Over Surfaces

 r r 
The expression S dS = D  u
v  du dv, that we used for surface area, is an example
of a surface integral.
Suppose that mass is distributed along a surface S and that f = f (u, v) stands for the
density in kilograms per square meter at a point r(u, v) on S.
If dS is the area (in square meters) of a surface element around this point, then the
expression f dS represents the mass, in kilograms, of that one surface element. If we want
the total mass of the surface, we sum up all the individual masses:



 r r 

Mass(S) =
f dS =
f (u, v)   du dv
u v
S
D
Lets try an example. We have already seen that a sphere of radius 1 centered around the
origin is given by the vector equation:
r = cos sin , sin sin , cos

0 2

Let us suppose that the density of mass distributed along this surface is given by f = x2 .
Lets calculate the total mass distributed along this surface S

Mass(S) =
x2 dS
S

In spherical coordinates, x2 = cos2 sin2 . We need dS in spherical coordinates as well.

Keep in mind that the parameters u and v are actually and in this example.



i
j
k 

r r 

=  cos cos sin cos sin  = cos sin2 , sin sin2 , sin cos

sin sin cos sin
0 


 r r 


dS =   d d = cos sin2 , sin sin2 , sin cos  d d = sin d d

Were ready to do the surface integral now.

Mass(S) =

x dS =
S

cos2 sin3 d d =

cos sin sin d d =

0

4
3

As a slightly more challenging exercise, try doing this surface integral in rectangular coordinates.

Other Interpretations of the Surface Integral

We have seen that if f stands for mass density (in kg/m2 ) then S f dS stands for the total
mass on surface S. Lets consider a slightly dierent physical situation. Suppose electric
charge is distributed over a surface S with a charge density of f = f (u, v) coulombs per
square meter at point r = r(u, v). If this is so, then the product f dS would stand for
the
amount of coulombs of charge on a surface element of area dS. The surface integral
f dS would then represent the total number of coulombs of charge on the surface S.
S
Other physical interpretations of the surface integral abound. For example, suppose a
surface S is unequally heated
with a heat density of f calories per square meter at each
point. The surface integral S f dS would then represent the total number of calories on
surface S.
More generally, if f is any sort of
a density function measured in units of stu per square
meter, then the surface integral S f dS would be the total number of units of stu on
surface S.
Surface Integral of a Vector Field
is a vector eld dened at each point (x, y, z) in space. To give our
Suppose that F
represents the velocity
calculations some specic physical meaning, lets suppose that F
vector of some uid, measured in meters per second. If the uid is owing through some
surface S, we might be interested in measuring how fast the uid is passing through this
surface. Lets see how we would calculate something like this.
Lets focus our attention on the uid going through a surface element of area dS.

has two components - a component normal to the surface and a component

The vector F
tangential to the surface. Since we are interested in the rate at which the uid is owing
through the surface, we want the normal component.
n represents the normal component
If n is a unit normal vector, then the dot product F

of F. That is, F n represents the rate, in meters per second, that uid is owing through
n dS would then represent the rate that uid is owing
the surface. The quantity F
through the surface in cubic meters per second. This is the rate that the volume of uid
is owing through this surface element. If we want the rate that the volume of uid is
n dS over the surface S.
owing through the entire surface S, then we sum up F

n dS
F
S


n dS varies depending on the meaning
Once again, the physical interpretation of S F
Suppose, for example, that heat is owing through the surface S.
of the vector eld F.
be the vector representing heat ow. The direction of F
represents the direction in
Let F

which heat is owing. The magnitude of F is the rate at which heat is owing,
measured in

calories per square meter per second. In this case, the surface integral S F n dS would
mean the rate, in calories per second, that heat is owing through surface S.

n dS will be called the flux and it measures a rate of

More generally, the quantity S F
ow through surface S. In physics, the physical
laws governing electricity andmagnetism

n dS
are expressed in terms of the electric ux S E n dS and the magnetic ux S B
and B
are the electric eld and magnetic eld vectors respectively.
where E
In many of our examples, our surfaces will have an inside and an outside. This is particularly clear if the surface S completely encloses a space, such as a closed rectangular box
or a complete sphere. In these cases, we will adopt
the convention that n is the outward
n dS would represent the rate of
normal vector. Therefore, the surface integral S F

n dS is negative, we would interpret this

ow of a quantity leaving the surface. If S F

n dS = 0,
as meaning that the net ow of the quantity is entering the surface. If S F
we would interpret this as meaning that as there is as much of the quantity is entering the
surface per unit time as there is leaving.
Calculation of the Surface Integral of a Vector Field

n dS ? Let us begin with the unit normal vector

How do we actually calculate S F
r
r
n. We have already seen that the cross product u
v
represents a vector normal to
the surface. Note that we should always take this cross product so that it is the outward
normal. To get a unit normal, we simply divide the cross product by its length.
r
r
v

n =  u
 r r 
u

We saw earlier that the area of the surface element dS is given by:


 r r 
dS =   du dv
u v
We now have all the elements we need for a very practical formula for calculating the
surface integral.

n dS =
F
S

r
r
v
 u

 r r 
u v

 r r 
r r du dv
  du dv =
F
 u v 
u v
D

Lets try this formula out on some examples.

Example 1.
If an electric charge of q coulombs is placed at the origin of an xyz-axis, the electric eld
due to this charge at a point r = (x, y, z) is given by
= kq r
E
|r|3
Lets calculate the surface integral of the electric eld over a unit sphere around the origin.
We saw earlier that the surface of the unit sphere can be represented by the equation:
r = cos sin , sin sin , cos
It follows that

where 0 2

= kq r = kq r = kqcos sin , sin sin , cos

E
|r|3
13

We have also seen that:

r r

= cos sin2 , sin sin2 , sin cos

Note that the cross product has been taken in the order that makes it point in the outward
direction. We are ready to calculate the surface integral.

r r d d
E

D

n dS =
E
S

kqcos sin , sin sin , cos cos sin2 , sin sin2 , sin cos d d

=
0

0
2

= kq

sin d d
0

= 4kq
= kq3 r = kqr
In this particular problem, there was an easier way to get the solution. E
|r|
1

and n = |r|r = r on S. It follows that E n = kqr r = kq so the surface integral

n dS reduces to
E
kq dS which is simply kq times the surface area of S. The
S
S
surface area of a sphere of radius a is 4a2 . In this example, the radius is a = 1 so the
answer must be 4kq.

Example 2. Let be the surface described by the equation:

r = x, y, z = cos , sin , z

where

0 2

0z3

This is the cylinder that we looked at earlier:

be dened as follows:
Let F
= x, y 2 , z
F
Lets calculate the surface integral:

n dS
F

takes the form:

On the surface , the vector eld F
= cos , sin2 , z
F
Next, we calculate n dS


 i

r r
n dS =

d dz = sin , cos , 00, 0, 1 d dz =  sin

z
 0

j
cos
0


k 

0  d dz
1

= cos , sin , 0 d dz
Its now a simple matter to calculate the surface integral
)
(

3 2
3 2
r r
2

Fn dS =

d dz =
cos , sin , z
cos2 +sin3 d dz = 3

0 0
0 0
be the same vector eld as in example
Example 3. Lets add to example 2 a little. Let F
2. Let be dened as before. Let T be the top of the cylinder at z = 3. Let B be the
bottom of the cylinder at z = 0. Let
S be the closed cylindrical surface formed by , T
n dS
and B. Calculate the surface integral S F

n dS
F n dS =
F n dS +
F n dS +
F
S

T
B

2
= 3 +
x, y , 3 0, 0, 1 dS +
x, y 2 , 0 0, 0, 1 dS
T
B

= 3 +
3dS + 0
T

= 3 + (3)(Area of T )
= 3 + 3 = 6