Volumes with known cross sections
Problem 5.259 · medium
The base of a solid is the disk \( \displaystyle x^2 + y^2 \le 16 \). Cross-sections perpendicular to the \( \displaystyle x \)-axis are equilateral triangles. Find the volume of the solid.
- \[ 2 \sqrt{16 - x^{2}} \]At position x the base of the cross-section has length (top − bottom).✓ Proved
- \[ \frac{\sqrt{3} \left(64 - 4 x^{2}\right)}{4} = - \sqrt{3} x^{2} + 16 \sqrt{3} \]Area of one cross-section: sqrt(3)/4·(side)².✓ Proved
- \[ \int\limits_{-4}^{4} \left(- \sqrt{3} x^{2} + 16 \sqrt{3}\right)\, dx = \frac{256 \sqrt{3}}{3} \]Volume = ∫ A(x) dx across the base.✓ Proved
Answer \( \frac{256 \sqrt{3}}{3} \)
Every line of this solution was proved by the computer algebra system SymPy. The answer was also checked a second way, without looking at the solution. The reviewers disagree about how one step is explained; every verdict is in the receipt.
The full receipt
| Line | Status | Checked by | Detail |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ✓ Proved | sympy 1.14.0 | simplify(lhs - rhs) reduced to 0 |
| 2 | ✓ Proved | sympy 1.14.0 | simplify(lhs - rhs) reduced to 0 |
| 3 | ✓ Proved | sympy 1.14.0 | simplify(lhs - rhs) reduced to 0 |
| answer, a second way | ✓ Checked independently | sympy 1.14.0 + mpmath 1.3.0 | numerical quadrature of the cross-sectional area |
Reviewers
gpt-oss:20b: passqwen3.6:27b-mlx: inconclusive — reviewer returned a non-object
Every verdict on record (4)
qwen3.6:27b-mlx: inconclusive 2026-10-05 — reviewer returned a non-objectgpt-oss:20b: pass 2026-10-05qwen3.6:27b-mlx: pass 2026-10-05 — The solution correctly identifies the side length of the equilateral triangles as the chord length of the circle, computes the area function correctly, and integrates over the correct bounds.gpt-oss:20b: pass 2026-10-05
Proved: SymPy reduced the difference between the two sides to zero. Checked independently: a separate
method, named above, confirmed it. Checked numerically: the two sides agree at every sampled point, which is evidence,
not proof. Reviewed: a model or a person read it; that is all a sentence can have. Solution by
generator:structured/volume_cross_sections, checked 2026-10-05 with SymPy 1.14.0.