Spheres and Spherical Geometry — Worked Examples
These problems progress from whole-sphere calculations to spherical portions and curved-surface geometry. Distinguish the sphere radius , circular-section radius , and cap or segment height .
Example 1: Volume of a sphere
A spherical ball has radius . Determine its volume.
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0 of 2 Steps CompletedExample 2: Radius from sphere surface area
A sphere has total surface area . Determine its radius.
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0 of 2 Steps CompletedExample 3: Material volume of a spherical shell
A hollow spherical vessel has outer radius and inner radius . Determine the geometric volume of shell material.
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0 of 2 Steps CompletedExample 4: Spherical cap volume, curved area, and closed area
A spherical cap is cut from a sphere of radius . The cap height is . Determine the cap volume, curved spherical area, base-disk area, and total closed-cap area.
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0 of 4 Steps CompletedExample 5: Recover the circular base radius of a cap
A cap is cut from a sphere of radius and has height . Determine the radius of the circular cutting section.
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A spherical segment of height has circular base radii and . Determine its volume.
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0 of 2 Steps CompletedExample 7: Area of a spherical zone
A sphere has radius . Two parallel planes bound a spherical zone of height . Determine the zone area.
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A spherical sector is associated with a zone of height on a sphere of radius . Determine the sector volume.
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0 of 2 Steps CompletedExample 9: Spherical lune and wedge
Two great-circle planes on a sphere of radius meet at angle . Determine the area of the spherical lune and the volume of the corresponding wedge.
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A spherical triangle lies on a sphere of radius and has interior angles , , and . Determine its area.
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For a spherical Earth approximation with radius , two points subtend a central angle of . Estimate their great-circle arc distance.
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0 of 2 Steps CompletedExample 12: Recasting a cylinder into a sphere
A solid metal cylinder of radius and height is melted and recast into one sphere with no material loss. Determine the sphere radius.
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0 of 3 Steps CompletedSpherical-geometry calculation check
Keep angular units explicit. Formulas such as require in radians, while a spherical-excess formula written with the factor accepts degrees. For caps and segments, do not confuse the sphere radius with the radius of the cutting circle, and state whether an area answer is curved-only or includes flat cut faces.