[Math] Find the area of the region inside the limaçon

calculuspolar coordinatestrigonometry

I'm struggling to figure out the answer to this:

Find the area of the region inside the limaçon, $r=3 + \sin(\theta)$

Could someone please help me out?

Best Answer

Draw a picture. We use the standard formula for area in polar coordinates. In principle there could be a problem with the interval of integration, but here there is no problem, because $3+\sin\theta$ is always positive. So our area is $$\int_0^{2\pi}\frac{1}{2}(3+\sin\theta)^2\,d\theta.$$ For the details, expand. The integral of $\frac{9}{2}$ is easy. For the "middle" term, the integral is easily $0$. Finally, we need to deal with $\int_0^{2\pi}\frac{1}{2}\sin^2\theta\,d\theta$. There are many ways to do this. One of them is to use $\cos2\theta=1-2\sin^2\theta$. Another way is to use symmetry, and note that the integral over our interval of $\cos^2\theta$ is the same as the integral of $\sin^2\theta$. But the sum of these integrals is the integral of $1$.