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Deriving the Equation of the Area of a Ring

Introduction

A circle is a flat figure with a curved surface. Each point on the circle is equidistant from

a single point known as the circle's center. Also, it can be defined as a two-dimensional form that

is defined by its radius. The term 'Circle' originates from the Greek word 'kirkos,' which

translates as 'ring' or 'hoop' (Czédli 10). It is composed of points at a constant or fixed distance

(radius) apart from a fixed point in the plane (Emerson, 5). The fixed point is referred to as the

origin or center of the circle, while the fixed distance between the points is referred to as the

radius.

One can reconstruct a circular object to form other shapes or similar shapes with different

characteristics. For instance, a ring is formed when one cuts a large circular area in the original

circular object. Although it is a circular object, it is unique in that it has a hole, and its area is

much less than the original one. Circular objects are used in several industrial areas, especially

packaging and tire production (Xu and Qian 78). Therefore, it can be of great importance in the

modern world since it is one of the structures used to overcome friction, making work easier.

Rationale and personal Engagement

I have lived in a world that some of its objects are circular. Using some of the packaging

materials, such as the cylindrical water bottle, is vaccinating since I can apply some

mathematical concepts. However, the question of how to derive what I know always keeps
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appearing in mind. Recently, I was invited by a friend to attend a wedding ceremony, where I

witnessed the couples exchanging rings. The rings were circular, and after giving a thought, I

decided to derive an equation that would define the total area of a ring.

Objective

When I researched how to derive equations, I found one interesting method that applies

trigonometry and integral calculus. This finding was helpful since I intend to explore how to

combine trigonometry and calculus to conduct a task. Therefore, in this exploration, I will use

calculus in trigonometry to derive the model equation that will define the area of a given a ring.

Methodology

Since I will be deriving equations, I will not use or collect data; rather, I will present some

diagrams that will allow me to define some variables that will be essential in the derivation.

Also, I will divide the exploration into two parts. The first will derive the area formula of a

circular surface using a smaller radius than the one in the second part. Therefore, this derivation

will represent the area of the hollow part of a ring. The second part will apply a larger radius, and

therefore the area of the hollow part will be inclusive. After finding both equations in parts 1 and

2, I will combine them to form the required equation to calculate the area of the solid part of a

ring.

Mathematical processes

There will be one major mathematical process to apply in this exploration which will be integral

calculus. The concept will be applied in trigonometry to generate the final answer. Lastly,

trigonometry concepts will be applied to help smoothen the integration processes. The most

trigonometric concept to use in this exploration will be the trigonometry identities.

The Area Equation if a Circle

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Part 1: Inner ring

Consider the diagram below

Diagram 1

It is a circle with its center at point B (m, n). side c is both the radius of the circle and the

hypotenuse of the triangle ABC. The radius starts at (m, n) and ends at (o, p). I will use the

diagram to generate the equation of a circle as follows.

Distance formula

This formula can be said to be Pythagorean. It uses the same principles as those of the

Pythagoras theorem. I will present it as follows

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c 2=b 2+ a2 … .i

In this case, equation i can also be expressed as follows.

( o−m )2 + ( p−n )2 =c 2 … … . ii

Where c=hypotenuse or radius of the circle. In this case, I will use the origin f the circle to be at

the origin so that the point (m, n) is at (0, 0). Therefore

( o−0 )2 + ( p−0 )2=c 2

02 + p2=c 2 … iii

Polar Equation

Since I have got equation ii i, I will then convert it into polar form. I will first convert all required

coordinates into polar coordinates, as shown below.

Diagram 2
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From diagram 2 above, sides a and b are opposite and adjacent to the angle at A. I will use

trigonometric rules to convert oand p into polar form

adjacent opposite
cosθ= ,∧sinθ=
hypo te nus hypotenus

Therefore,

o
cosθ= o=c ×cosθ
c

Also

p
sinθ=
c

p=c × sinθ

The side c, which is both the hypotenuse triangle ABC and the circle's radius, will be expressed

using the Pythagoras theorem as follows.

c 2=r 2=o2 + p2 … .iv

Substituting the identities of a and b in equation iv I got the following

r 2=(csinθ)2+(c ×cosθ )2

Area

To find the area of the circle, I will proceed to integrate equation iii as follows. First, I will put

the o the subject of the formula

r 2=o2 + p2

o 2=r 2− p2

√ o2 =√ r 2− p2
o=√ r 2− p2
r
A=∫ o=∫ √r 2+ p2 dp
0
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From the above conversion, I know that

p=c × sinθ

Therefore

dp
=ccos θ
dθ

Since c=r then

dp
=r cos θ
dθ

Therefore

dp=r cos θdθ

r
A=∫ √ r 2+(rsinθ)2 r cos θdθ
0

Converting the integral values

Consider diagram 3 below. The shaded region is a quadrant that is generated by rotating the

radius of the circle from zero degrees to 90o ( π2 ). Therefore, the integral values will change to
,∧π
0 .
2

Diagram 3
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π
2

A=∫ √ r 2+ r 2 sin2 θ rcosθdθ

0

π
2

A=∫ √ r 2( 1−sin2 θ)rcosθdθ

0

π
2

A=r ∫ √(1−sin 2 θ)rcosθdθ

0

From trigonometric identities,

sin2 θ+cos 2 θ=1

Therefore,

cos 2 θ=1−sin 2 θ
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π π
2 2

A=r ∫ √ (1−sin2 θ)rcosθdθ=r ∫ √cos 2 θ rcosθdθ

0 0

π
2

A=r ∫ √ cos 2 θ rcosθdθ

0

π
2

A=r ∫ cos θ ×rcosθdθ

0

π
2

A=r 2∫ cos 2 θ dθ
0

Also, from the trigonometric rules

1
cos 2 θ= ¿
2

Substituting the identity in the area equation, we get the following

π
2 2
r
A= ∫ 1+ cos ⁡(2 θ) dθ
2 0

π π

A=
r
2
2

(∫ 2

0
2

1 dθ+∫ cos ( 2 θ ) dθ
0
)
π
2 π

∫ 1 dθ=θ∨¿02 ¿
0

π
2
This part ∫ cos ( 2θ ) dθ will require me to use the substitution method
0

du
Let u=2θ then du=2dθ. Therefore, =d θ
2
π π
2 2

∫ cos ( 2θ ) dθ= 12 ∫ cos u du

0 0
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π
2
1 1 1
∫ cos u du= sinu= sin 2 θ
20 2 2

therefore

r2
A= ¿
2

r2 π 1 1
A=
2 (( )(
+ sinπ − 0+ sin 0
2 2 2 ))
sinπ=sin 0=0

Therefore

r 2 π π r2
A= × =
2 2 4

As the formula indicates, the area equation represents that of a quarter circle. Therefore, to get

the area of a complete circle, I will have to multiply the equation by four as follows.

π r2 2
A=4 × =π r
4

Part 2: Outer ring

This part will consider the outer part of a ring with a larger radius than the inner part of the ring.

Consider the diagram below

Diagram 4
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From the diagram, I have use capital letters to differentiate the inner and the outer ring values.

From the above working, we know that

X =Rsinθ , Y =Rcosθ∧R2=X 2+Y 2

Note that the angle does not change since it is extracted from the same circle. Using the general

equation, I will derive the area in this part using a similar process as above.

R 2= X 2 + Y 2

I will make Y the subject of the formula and simplify it before the integration process

Y 2=R 2−X 2

√ Y 2 = √ R 2− X 2
Y = √ R2 −X 2

Now I will proceed to the integration process, as shown below

R
A=∫ Y =∫ √ R2− X 2 dX
0

But
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X =Rsinθ∧dX=Rcosθdθ

Therefore
R
A=∫ √ R 2−(Rsinθ)2 Rcosθdθ
0

R
A=∫ √ R 2−R2 sin2 θ Rcosθdθ
0

By factoring R2
R
A=R∫ √1−sin 2 θ Rcosθdθ
0

1−sin2 θ=cos 2 θ

Therefore,
R R
A=R∫ √1−sin 2 θ Rcosθdθ= A=R ∫ √ cos2 θ Rcosθdθ
0 0

Since X =Rsinθ I will replace X with R to get the integral values as follows

R=Rsinθ

R
=1=sinθ
R

sin 90=1

π
Therefore, R will change to 90o or
2
π
2

A=R∫ √cos 2 θ Rcosθdθ

0

Further simplification of the above equation is done as follows

π
2

A=R∫ cosθ × Rcosθdθ

0
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π
2

A=R2∫ cos 2 θ dθ
0

1
cos 2 θ= ( 1+ cos 2θ )
2

Therefore
π
2 2
R
A= ∫ 1+ cos 2θ dθ
2 0

π π

A=
R
2
2

(∫ 2

0
2

1 dθ+∫ cos 2 θ dθ
0
)
π
2 π

∫ 1 dθ=θ ¿ ¿02
0

du
Using substitution rule, let u=2θ then du=2dθ. Therefore, =d θ
2
π π
2 2

∫ cos ( 2θ ) dθ= 12 ∫ cos u du

0 0

π
2
1 1 1
∫ cos u du= sinu= sin 2 θ
20 2 2

therefore

R
A= ¿
2

R2
A=
2 (( π2 + 12 sinπ )−( 0+ 12 sin 0))
sinπ=sin 0=0

Therefore
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R2 π π R 2
A= × =
2 2 4

Again this area equation is only a representation of a quarter of a circle. Therefore, I will

multiply it by four as follows

π R2 2
A=4 × =π R
4

Up to this point, I have only managed to get the area of a smaller and a larger circle of a ring;

therefore, I will combine both equations to get the actual area of a solid ring area as follows.

The solid part of a ring will be the smaller area subtracted from the larger area.

A=π R2 −π r 2

A=π ( R2−r 2 )

Limitation and Conclusion

This exploration aimed to combine the integral calculus and trigonometry topics to derive

the equation that can be used to define the area of a circular ring. The exploration was beneficial,

and I managed to complete its objective and found the below formula for the ring area.

A=π ( R2−r 2 )

In my exploration of how to integrate trigonometry functions, I was able to learn few

lessons. First, I identified that many trigonometry identities could be used in integration and

other mathematical functions. Out of the many identities, I only managed to apply two.

Additionally, I realized that combining integral calculus and trigonometry to perform a task

requires a lot of work and, therefore, requires one to do a thorough study on the same since

forgetting is also a factor to consider. However, I was happy and would like to do more of those

explorations to learn more. Lastly, apart from the two major concepts applied in this exploration,
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I used a Pythagoras theorem, which surprised me at how well its application fit in the

computation.

Nevertheless, I encountered some challenges in the entire exploration. First, identifying

the research question that would incorporate integral calculus and trigonometry was not an easy

task. It took time to realize and identify that both concepts can be applied in the deriving

equation of a circle. Secondly, it required a lot of research, especially on the correct trigonometry

identity to apply with the integral calculus. Also, this part consumed a considerable time, but

after identifying the two identities, the rest of the work became easy. The third limitation was

that a wedding ring is mostly cylindrical, and therefore, I would have also included the area of

the ring's body. This limitation makes my answer fit more a very thin ring whose height is zero.

Lastly, my concept used only two trigonometry formulas; therefore, I cannot fully say that I

completely know how to integrate trigonometric functions. For this reason, I need to explore the

same to cover as many identities as possible.

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Work Cited

Czédli, Gábor. "Characterizing Circles by a Convex Combinatorial Property." ArXiv:1611.09331

[Math], July 2017. arXiv.org, http://arxiv.org/abs/1611.09331.

Emerson, Ralph Waldo. "Circles." Pragmatism, Routledge, 2020.

Xu, Zezhong, and Cheng Qian. "A Novel Method for Circular Objects Extraction Based on

Region Information." Signal, Image and Video Processing, Aug. 2021. Springer Link,

https://doi.org/10.1007/s11760-021-01995-2.