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Find the triple integral over the region $E$, where $E$ is bounded by $x=3z^2$ and the planes $x=y, y=0$,and $x=12$. I know that it is possible to integrate in the order $dy$, $dx$, and $dz$ and in the order $dy$, $dz$, and $dx$, but I am having no luck integrating in the order $dx$, $dy$ and $dz$. The biggest problem is that I am struggling to find a way to represent the domain of $y$ in terms of $z$ for the the second integral's limits of integration.

When I graph $x=3z^2$, I see that for any value of $z$, it does not map to a single $y$-value, but rather the entire $y$-axis. I'm lost on how to find these limits of integration. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

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Look down onto the $y,z$ plane. In the plot below, the front wall of the bounding frame corresponds to $x=0$ and the back wall to $x=12$.

You'll notice that the two surfaces $x=y$ and $x=3z^2$ (resp. blue and orange) compete for "bottom surface" with respect to the $x$-axis. They intersect in a parabolic curve (red) along the wall of the parabolic cylinder. To one side of this parabola (below it, from this angle) the plane $x=y$ lies beneath the cylinder $x=3z^2$, i.e. $x=y$ is closer to $x=0$ and $x=3z^2$ is closer to $x=12$; in this case, the cylinder acts as the floor for the given region. Otherwise, to the other side of the parabola ("above" it) $x=3z^2$ lies below $x=y$, so the latter is closer to $x=12$ and acts as lower bound.

Over the whole rectangle $(y,z)\in[0,12]\times[-2,2]$, we can then say $x$ must be between $12$ and the larger of the two functions $x=y$ and $x=3z^2$, denoted $\max\left\{y,3z^2\right\}$.

plot of surfaces looking down (mostly) on y-z plane

So we can capture the whole region with the condensed triple integral,

$$\int_{z=-2}^2 \int_{y=0}^{12} \int_{x=\max\left\{y,3z^2\right\}}^{12} f(x,y,z) \, dx \, dy \, dz$$

The OP only mentions a generic integral, not a volume, so I assume $f\neq1$. We need to carefully split up the domain if we actually want to compute this.


For simplicity, let's suppose we just want the volume and that $f=1$. For comparison, using the much simpler order $dy\,dx\,dz$, we have a volume of

$$\begin{align*} I_{yxz} &= \int_{z=-2}^2 \int_{x=3z^2}^{12} \int_{y=0}^x dy \, dx \, dz \\ &= 2 \int_0^2 \int_{3z^2}^{12} \int_0^x dy \, dx \, dz \\ &= \frac{1152}5 \end{align*}$$

Now for our target order $dz\,dy\,dx$, we must split up the $y$ integral depending on which subset of the region we find ourselves in. For reference, consult the plot below showing a projection of the region's boundaries onto the $y,z$ plane.

projection onto y-z plane

$$\begin{align*} I_{xyz} &= \int_{z=-2}^2 \int_{y=0}^{12} \int_{x=\max\left\{y,3z^2\right\}}^{12} dx \, dy \, dz \\ &= 2 \int_0^2 \int_0^{12} \int_{\max\left\{y,3z^2\right\}}^{12} dx \, dy \, dz \\ &= 2 \left(\int_0^2 \int_0^{3z^2} \int_{3z^2}^{12} dx \, dy \, dz + \int_0^2 \int_{3z^2}^{12} \int_y^{12} dx \, dy \, dz\right) \\ &\stackrel{\checkmark}= \frac{1152}5 \end{align*}$$

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    $\begingroup$ You cannot have $x$ as a limit of integration on your $dy$ integral …. $\endgroup$ Commented Aug 5 at 21:50
  • $\begingroup$ I just had a massive brainfart for the last five hours reading this, but it clicked all of a sudden. Thank you! $\endgroup$
    – TreeGuy
    Commented Aug 5 at 22:27
  • $\begingroup$ Does this mean that sometimes there are iterated integrals with a certain order of x, y, and z that cannot be written with a single integral? $\endgroup$
    – TreeGuy
    Commented Aug 5 at 22:30
  • $\begingroup$ @TreeGuy Yes. As a simple example in 2D, consider the triangle with vertices $(0,0)$, $(0,2)$, and $(1,1)$. Setting up and computing the integral for area in $dy\,dx$ order is easy and doesn't require any additional surgery, while $dx\,dy$ requires splitting up the region along $y=1$ because the horizontal distance between the boundaries $x=0$ and $y=x$, and between $x=0$ and $y=2-x$, is not the same for all $y\in[0,2]$. In this example, we'd have$$\int_{x=0}^1\int_{y=x}^{2-x}dy\,dx=\int_{y=0}^2\int_{x=0}^{\min\{y,2-y\}}dx\,dy=\left(\int_0^1\int_0^y+\int_1^2\int_0^{2-y}\right)dx\,dy$$ $\endgroup$
    – user170231
    Commented Aug 6 at 13:44

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