[Math] find the volume of largest right angled rectangular parallelepiped inscribed in ellipsoid

derivativeslagrange multiplierpartial derivative

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this problem is from partial differentiation and i need to find the largest volume using differentiation
question: there is ellipsoid $\frac{x^2}{a^2}+\frac{y^2}{b^2}+\frac{z^2}{c^2}=1$,
find the volume of largest right angled rectangular parallelepiped inscribed in it.
$z=c\sqrt[]{1-\frac{x^2}{a^2}-\frac{y^2}{b^2}}$,$V=8cxyc\sqrt[]{1-\frac{x^2}{a^2}-\frac{y^2}{b^2}}$
and $f(x,y)=cxyc\sqrt[]{1-\frac{x^2}{a^2}-\frac{y^2}{b^2}}$
$f_x=\frac{y(a^2z^2-c^2x^2)}{a^2z}$$f_y=\frac{x(b^2z^2-c^2y^2)}{b^2z}$
i dont understand why the volume here $V=8cxyc\sqrt[]{1-\frac{x^2}{a^2}-\frac{y^2}{b^2}}$ , can someone explain to me why 8?
and also i cannot picture the rectangular parallelepiped inside the ellips in three dimensions.
which one is right $V=xyz $ or $V=8cxyc\sqrt[]{1-\frac{x^2}{a^2}-\frac{y^2}{b^2}}$
if i use $V=xyz$ i ended up with
$\frac{abc}{3\sqrt3}$

is this picture represent the equation? if someone kind please explain to me using this picture thanks!

Best Answer

The volume of a parallelepiped is indeed $V=xyz$. If it is inscribed into an ellipse $x^2/a^2+y^2/b^2+z^2/c^2=1$, then $z$ in the volume formula can be replaced by $z$ from the ellipse. Now the picture only shows $1/8$th part (there are $8$ octants) of the whole parallelepiped. Hence: $V_{large}=8V_{small}$. So there are two ways to find the volume of the large parallelepiped: direct or indirect: $$Direct: \ \ V_{large}=2x\cdot 2y\cdot 2\cdot c\sqrt{1-\frac{x^2}{a^2}-\frac{y^2}{b^2}}.$$ $$Indirect: \ \ V_{large}=8V_{small}=8\cdot x\cdot y\cdot c\sqrt{1-\frac{x^2}{a^2}-\frac{y^2}{b^2}}.$$ Note: It looks one of two $c$s is excessive in the volume formula you provided. However, $f_x, f_y$ were found with one $c$.

Appendix: $$f_x=yc\sqrt{1-\frac{x^2}{a^2}-\frac{y^2}{b^2}}+xyc\cdot \frac{-\frac{2x}{a^2}}{2\sqrt{1-\frac{x^2}{a^2}-\frac{y^2}{b^2}}}=yz-\frac{x^2yc^2}{a^2z}=\frac{y(a^2z^2-c^2x^2)}{a^2z}.$$ Note: After finding $f_x$ the root was replaced by $z$.