IGCSE PURE MATHS

MENSURATION
(APPLICATION OF DIFFERENTIATION)
LECTURE – 1
04th JUNE, THURSDAY
HOW IS MENSURATION AND
DIFFERENTIATION CONNECTED?
• Firstly, you need to know how to find the SURFACE AREA & VOLUME of the
following shapes:
• Cuboid/Box (Open or Closed/Solid)
• Cylinder (Open top or Closed/Solid)
• Secondly, after finding the expressions of surface area or volume, you will need
to differentiate the expression in terms of r , x , w etc.
• Thirdly, you need to set the differentiated expression of Area or Volume = 0
and find the value of x which represents the stationary value of r , x , w.
• Fourth, you take the value of x and put it in the original expression of Area and
Volume found in step 2 to get the maximum or minimum value of AREA /
VOLUME.
• Fifth, you need to double differentiate your expression in step 2 and substitute
the value of x found in step 3 to prove/verify/justify/show that the area or
volume found is whether a maximum or minimum
CUBOID / BOX / BLOCK
CYLINDER
TRICK TO SOLVE ANY MENSURATION PROBLEM:
Volume to Surface Area
• In the question, if value of Volume of the cuboid or cylinder is given, then
you need to use the formula of Volume and make height the subject.
• Then, write down the formula of the surface area of the cuboid or
cylinder
• Then you need to substitute the expression of h into the expression of
surface area to get everything in terms of one variable (r , x , w)
• Then, you differentiate this expression and set it = 0 to find the value of
r , x , w.
• Finally use this value of r , x , w to find the maximum or minimum value
of surface area.
TRICK TO SOLVE ANY MENSURATION PROBLEM:
Surface Area to Volume
• In the question, if value of SURFACE AREA of the cuboid or cylinder is
given, then you need to use the formula of SURFACE AREA and make
height the subject.
• Then, write down the formula of the VOLUME of the cuboid or cylinder
• Then you need to substitute the expression of h into the expression of
VOLUME to get everything in terms of one variable (r , x , w)
• Then, you differentiate this expression and set it = 0 to find the value of
r , x , w.
• Finally use this value of r , x , w to find the maximum or minimum value
of VOLUME.
Example 1:
EXAMPLE 2
EXAMPLE 3