1

Node:

Implicit differentiation, Greens Theorem, and Planimeters.

class-notes/math-224/planimeter

Stamps:

G. W. Patrick, February 2012.

First delivered Math 224.3 T2 2011-12.

(
x, y)

b
(u, v)

b
a

(x, y)

A planimeter is a mechanical device for measuring area; see the picture at left. There are two hinged arms, one of them with
a ruled wheel, attached perpendicularly to its arm, and the other with a weight and a pin. To operate the planimeter, you
pin the end of the arm without the wheel and zero the wheel. After tracing it the boundary of a region with the end of the
free arm, the wheel shows the area of the region.
Basic model: As the planimeter is operated, the wheel turns as it slides over the surface. If the velocity of the wheel is
parallel to the wheel, then the wheel will grip the paper, and the wheels angular velocity will be proportional to the velocity.
However, if the velocity has a component perpendicular to the wheel, then the wheel will partially slip, and in the extreme
case, the wheel is dragged perpendicular to its edge and it does not rotate at all. We assume that the angular velocity of
the wheel is proportional to the component of the velocity parallel to it. Since the wheel is mounted perpendicularly on the
arm, this means that the angular velocity of the wheel is proportional to the component of (du/dt, dv/dt) perpendicular to
(x x
, y y), i.e.,




d
du dv

,
(y y), x x
.
dt
dt dt
As x(t) and y(t) trace the region R (with boundary R) starting at t0 and ending at t1 , (
x, y) and (u, v) are determined
implicitly by the equations
x
2 + y2 = a2 ,
(x x
)2 + (y y)2 = b2 ,
u=x
+ (x x
),

v = y + (y y).

The change in angle as the region is traced is


Z t1
Z t1 


d
du dv
(y y), x x
=
dt
,
dt.
dt dt
t0 dt
t0

(1)

Because x
, y, u, and v are implicitly functions of x and y, the integrand on the left can in principle be written in terms of x
and y, and linearly in terms of dx/dt and dy/dt, i.e.,


Z t1 
I
Z 
dx
dy
Q P

P (x, y)
+ Q(x, y)
dt =
P (x, y) dx + Q(x, y) dy =

(dx dy).
dt
dt
x
y
t0
R
R
It suffices to show that Q/x P/y is constant, because then the change in will be proportional to the area of R.

Calculating P/y and Q/x is a straightforward exercise in the chain rule, applied to the right side of (1).
u = x + (1 )
x,
du
dx
=
+ (1 )
dt
dt

x
dx x
dy
+
x dt
y dt


,

v = y + (y y)


dv
dy
y dx y dy
=
+ (1 )
+
,
dt
dt
x dt
y dt




dv
du
x

y
dx
(y y)
+ (x x

= (y y) + (1 ) (y y)
+ (x x
)
dt
dt
x
x
dt



x

y
dy
+ (x x
) + (1 ) (y y)
+ (x x
)
y
y
dt


x

y
P = (y y) + (1 ) (y y)
+ (x x
)
x
x


x

y
Q = (x x
) + (1 ) (y y)
+ (x x
)
y
y


 


y
2x
2 y
P
y
y x
x

=  1

(y y)
+ (x x
)
+ (1 ) 1
y
y
y x y x
xy
xy






2
2
Q
x

y x

x
y
x

y
= 1
+ (1 )
+ 1
(y y)
+ (x x
)
x
x
x y
x y
xy
xy




y x
Q P
x
y

y x

x
y

= 2

+ (1 )
+
+2
2
,
x
y
x y
y x
x y
x y
from which




x
y
y x
x
y
Q P

= 2 + (1 2)
+
+ 2(1 )

x
y
x y
x y
x y
(
x, y)
(
x, y)
= 2 + (1 2) trace
+ 2(1 ) det
.
(x, y)
(x, y)
Implicit differentiation completes the derivation: x
and y are determined as functions of x and y from G(x, y, x
, y) = 0, where


x
2 + y2 a2 ,
G=
,
(x x
)2 + (y y)2 b2
and differentiating implicitly gives
G (
x, y)
G
+
=0
(
x, y) (x, y) (x, y)


1 

(
x, y)
x

y
0
0
=
.
(x x
) (y y)
(x x
) (y y)
(x, y)

It is easily verified all matrices of the form


1 

a b
0 0
c d
c d
have trace equal to 1 and determinant equal to 0. Thus,
Q P

= 2 + (1 2) = 1.
x
y
Digital planimeter: Consider a polygonal region enclosed in a right handed sense by line segments with endpoints
(x1 , y1 ), (x2 , y2 ), . . . , (xn , yn ) = (x1 , y1 ).
The line integral of y dx + x dy (i.e. P = y and Q = x) around the boundary is twice the enclosed area, because
Q/x P/y = 2. The segment joining (xi , yi ) and (xi+1 , yi+1 ) is
Ci :

x = (1 t)xi + txi+1 ,

y = (1 t)yi + tyi+1 ,

and the line integral over this segment is

Z
Z 1




y dx + x dy =
(1 t)yi + tyi+1 (xi+1 xi ) + (1 t)xi + txi+1 (yi+1 yi ) dt
Ci

1
1
yi + yi+1 (xi+1 xi ) + xi + xi+1 (yi+1 yi )
2
2

1


1
= yi xi+1 + yi+1 xi+1 yi xi yi+1 xi + xi yi+1 + xi+1 yi+1 xi yi xi+1 yi
2
2
= xi yi+1 xi+1 yi .
=

The area is half the sum of the line integrals over the segments, giving the digital planimeter A =

1X
xi yi+1 xi+1 yi .
2 i=1