Volumes by cylindrical shells
Problem 5.83 · easy
The region under \( \displaystyle y = \frac{1}{x} \) for \( \displaystyle 0 \le x \le 2 \) is revolved about the y-axis. Use shells to find the volume.
- A shell at x has radius x, height f(x) and thickness dx, so its volume is 2πx f(x) dx.
- \[ \int\limits_{0}^{2} 2 \pi\, dx = 4 \pi \]V = ∫ 2πx f(x) dx.✓ Proved
Answer \( 4 \pi \)
Lines: 1 proved, 1 not checked. 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. How we verify
The full receipt
| Line | Status | Checked by | Detail |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Not checked | — | a sentence; read, not computed |
| 2 | ✓ 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 | 20,000 thin shells (annular slabs) summed numerically give the same volume |
Reviewers
gpt-oss:20b: passqwen3.6:27b-mlx: fail (error) — The solution sets up the integral for revolving y=x around the y-axis, ignoring the given function y=1/x. The integrand should be 2πx(1/x) = 2π, not 2πx.
Every verdict on record (6)
qwen3.6:27b-mlx: fail (error) 2026-09-28 — The solution sets up the integral for revolving y=x around the y-axis, ignoring the given function y=1/x. The integrand should be 2πx(1/x) = 2π, not 2πx.gpt-oss:20b: pass 2026-09-28qwen3.6:27b-mlx: fail (error) 2026-09-27 — The solution uses the shell method formula but fails to include the function f(x) = 1/x in the integrand, effectively integrating 2πx instead of 2π. This results in an incorrect volume calculation.gpt-oss:20b: fail (style) 2026-09-27 — [domain objection, downgraded to style] The problem is ill‑posed: the curve y=1/x is undefined at x=0, so the region under the curve from 0 to 2 does not exist (the area diverges). The solution ignores this and uses f(x) without specifying it, leading to an incorrect volume of 4π. The setup and calculation are therefore incorrect.qwen3.6:27b-mlx: fail (error) 2026-09-26 — The solution sets up the integral for revolving y=x around the y-axis, not y=1/x. The height of the shell should be 1/x, making the integrand 2π, not 2πx.gpt-oss:20b: pass 2026-09-26
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_shells, checked 2026-09-28 with SymPy 1.14.0.