24.

Triple integrals
Denition 24.1. Let B = [a, b] [c, d] [e, f] R
3
be a box in space.
A partition P of R is a triple of sequences:
a = x
0
< x
1
< < x
n
= b
c = y
0
< y
1
< < y
n
= d
e = z
0
< z
1
< < z
n
= f.
The mesh of P is
m(P) = max{ x
i
x
i1
, y
i
y
i1
, z
i
z
i1
| 1 i k }.
Now suppose we are given a function
f : B R
Pick
c
ijk
B
ijk
= [x
i1
, x
i
] [y
j1
, y
j
] [z
i
, z
i1
].
Denition 24.2. The sum
S =
n

i=1
n

j=1
n

k=1
f(c
ijk
)(x
i
x
i1
)(y
j
y
j1
)(z
i
z
i1
),
is called a Riemann sum.
Denition 24.3. The function f : B R is called integrable, with
integral I, if for every > 0, we may nd a > 0 such that for every
mesh P whose mesh size is less than , we have
|I S| < ,
where S is any Riemann sum associated to P.
If W R
3
is a bounded subset and f : W R is a bounded
function, then pick a box B containing W and extend f by zero to a
function

f : B R,

f(x) =
_
x if x W
0 otherwise.
If

f is integrable, then we write
___
W
f(x, y, z) dx dy dz =
___
B

f(x, y, z) dx dy dz.
In particular
vol(W) =
___
W
dx dy dz.
There are two pairs of results, which are much the same as the results
for double integrals:
1
Proposition 24.4. Let W R
2
be a bounded subset and let f : W
R and g : W R be two integrable functions. Let be a scalar.
Then
(1) f + g is integrable over W and
___
W
f(x, y, z)+g(x, y, z) dx dy dz =
___
W
f(x, y, z) dx dy dz+
___
W
g(x, y, z) dx dy dz.
(2) f is integrable over W and
___
W
f(x, y, z) dx dy dz =
___
W
f(x, y, z) dx dy dz.
(3) If f(x, y, z) g(x, y, z) for any (x, y, z) W, then
___
W
f(x, y, z) dx dy dz
___
W
g(x, y, z) dx dy dz.
(4) |f| is integrable over W and
|
___
W
f(x, y, z) dx dy dz|
___
W
|f(x, y, z)| dx dy dz.
Proposition 24.5. Let W = W
1
W
2
R
3
be a bounded subset and
let f : W R be a bounded function.
If f is integrable over W
1
and over W
2
, then f is integrable over W
and and W
1
W
2
, and we have
___
W
f(x, y, z) dx dy dz =
___
W
1
f(x, y, z) dx dy dz+
___
W
2
f(x, y, z) dx dy dz

___
W
1
W
2
f(x, y, z) dx dy dz.
Denition 24.6. Dene three maps

ij
: R
3
R
2
,
by projection onto the ith and jth coordinate.
In coordinates, we have

12
(x, y, z) = (x, y),
23
(x, y, z) = (y, z), and
13
(x, y, z) = (x, z).
For example, if we start with a solid pyramid and project onto the
xy-plane, the image is a square, but it project onto the xz-plane, the
image is a triangle. Similarly onto the yz-plane.
Denition 24.7. A bounded subset W R
3
is an elementary sub-
set if it is one of four types:
Type 1: D =
12
(W) is an elementary region and
W = { (x, y, z) R
2
| (x, y) D, (x, y) z (x, y) },
2
where : D R and : D R are continuous functions.
Type 2: D =
23
(W) is an elementary region and
W = { (x, y, z) R
2
| (y, z) D, (y, z) x (y, z) },
where : D R and : D R are continuous functions.
Type 3: D =
13
(W) is an elementary region and
W = { (x, y, z) R
2
| (x, z) D, (x, z) y (x, z) },
where : D R and : D R are continuous functions.
Type 4: W is of type 1, 2 and 3.
The solid pyramid is of type 4.
Theorem 24.8. Let W R
3
be an elementary region and let f : W
R be a continuous function.
Then
(1) If W is of type 1, then
___
W
f(x, y, z) dx dy dz =
__

12
(W)
_
_
(x,y)
(x,y)
f(x, y, z) dz
_
dx dy.
(2) If W if of type 2, then
___
W
f(x, y, z) dx dy dz =
__

23
(W)
_
_
(y,z)
(y,z)
f(x, y, z) dx
_
dy dz.
(3) If W if of type 3, then
___
W
f(x, y, z) dx dy dz =
__

13
(W)
_
_
(x,z)
(x,z)
f(x, y, z) dy
_
dx dz.
Lets gure out the volume of the solid ellipsoid:
W = { (x, y, z) R
3
|
_
x
a
_
2
+
_
y
b
_
2
+
_
z
c
_
2
1 }.
3
This is an elementary region of type 4.
vol(W) =
___
W
dx dy dz
=
_
a
a
_
_
_
b
q
1(
x
a
)
2
b
q
1(
x
a
)
2
_
_
_
c
q
1(
x
a
)
2
(
y
b
)
2
c
q
1(
x
a
)
2
(
y
b
)
2
dz
_
_
dy
_
_
dx
=
_
a
a
_
_
_
b
q
1(
x
a
)
2
b
q
1(
x
a
)
2
2c
_
1
_
x
a
_
2

_
y
b
_
2
dy
_
_
dx
= 2c
_
a
a
_
_
_
b
q
1(
x
a
)
2
b
q
1(
x
a
)
2
_
1
_
x
a
_
2

_
y
b
_
2
dy
_
_
dx
=
2c
b
_
a
a
_
_
_
b
q
1(
x
a
)
2
b
q
1(
x
a
)
2

b
2
_
1
_
x
a
_
2
_
y
2
dy
_
_
dx
=
c
b
_
a
a
b
2
_
1
_
x
a
_
2
_
dx
= bc
_
a
a
1
_
x
a
_
2
dx
= bc
_
x
x
3
3a
2
_
a
a
= bc
_
2a 2
a
3
3a
2
_
=
4
3
abc.
4