Calculus Early Transcendentals (7th Edition)

James Stewart
Page 450, #22
Solved by Andy Xiong
A tank is full of water. Find the work required to pump the water out of the spout.
1m

Figure A

Let the tank be graphed on a x-y

coordinate plane where the center of the
tank is at (0,0). The bottom of the tank is
at (0, -3), and the top of the tank (not
considering the spout) is at (0, 3).
The radius is 3m.

3m

To obtain certain values for

calculating
work, we must arbitrarily choose a crosssection where the tank is filled with
water, but not to its maximum capacity.
The cross-section is a circle.
In Figure A, the water is filled close to
the top of the tank as we have chosen.
Considering the cross section, which is a
circle, we must realize that there is a right
triangle that can be related to it in terms
of its radius.
Figure C

y
r

Figure B

y
3m

Figure C is the cross-section, which is a circle with radius r. Figure B is the right triangle,
which relates to the cross-section with radius r.
In order to calculate work, we must consider our integration bounds. The bottom of the tank
is at (0, -3), and the top of the tank is at (0, 3). Therefore, it is plausible to integrate from
[-3, 3] in respect to y.
Now that we understand that our integration is in respect to y, we must express the area of
the cross-section in terms of y.
Recall that
!
= ! () , where V is the volume and A(y) is the area of the cross-section.

Note that () is just

another way of expressing
volume. We need this.

= ! () = ()
!

We need to find the area of the cross-section, which is A(y).

= !
In order to find the area, we need solve for r from Figure B with the Pythagorean Theorem.
! + ! = (3)!
! = 9 !
= 9 !
Incorporate r into A(y).
= ( 9 ! )!
() = (9 ! )
Now that we have A(y), we need to reconfigure A(y) in terms of volume. We start by
multiplying both sides of the previous expression by in order to do this. (Volume is the
product of area and a little thickness. The area is A(y), and a little thickness is .)
!

= ()
!

= ()
= (9 ! )
= (9 ! )
**Note that the unit of this volume is cubed meters.
= 9 ! !
_________________________________________________________________
Recall that

and that
=
=
**Note that gravity is contributing to the production of force in this problem. Therefore, its value
would be 9.8 N/kg.
However, we still need mass. We need to find the mass of water at some y.
!"#$% = !"#$% !"#$%
The density of water is 1000 /! .

[ 9 ! ! ]
!
= 1000 9 !

!"#$% = 1000
!"#$%
Now we look at the equation for force.

 = !"#$%
= [1000 9 ! ](9.8
= 9800 9 !

Incorporate force into the equation of work.

=
= [9800 9 ! ]()
We need to find the distance water travels or is moved when it is pumped out of the tank. See
Figure D.

1m

Figure D

4
3m

The variable y is the distance from

the arbitrary surface of the water to
the top of the tank (excluding the
spout). The value 4 is the total
distance of the radius of the tank and
the spout.
Therefore, when water is pumped out
through the spout, the total distance
traveled is
= 4
The unit of this distance is in meters.
= (4 )

y
Calculate the value of work.

=
= [9800(9 ! ) ][(4 ) ]
= 9800(9 ! )(4 ) J
**Note that the product of Newtons and meters is Joules. Hence, the unit J (Joules).

This is the value of work done at some y. However, this does not give us the total work. The
total work is the energy required to pump out all of the water from point a to point b. And the
tank is full with water. All of that water needs to be pumped out, so we need to integrate from
[a,b] to get the total work. In our case, we need to integrate from [-3, 3] in respect to y. Again,
the y-value of -3 is at the bottom of the tank, and the y-value of 3 is at the top of the tank
(excluding the spout).

!"#$% =
!

!"#$% =

9800 9 ! 4

!!

!"#!" = 9800
!

!"#$% = 9800

9 ! 4

!!

(36 9 4 ! + ! )

!!

9
4
!"#$% = 9800 [36 ! ! + ! ]!!!
2
3
!"#$% = 1,411,200