Calculus I, Section 4.

7, #32
Optimization Problems

A right circular cylinder is inscribed in a cone with height h and base radius r. Find the largest possible
volume of such a cone.1

At right are four sketches of various cylinders in-

scribed a cone of height h and radius r. From h h
these sketches, it seems that the volume of the cylin-
der changes as a function of the cylinder’s radius,
x. x x
r r

So we need a function that gives the volume of the

cylinder in terms of x. h h


Volumecylinder = (area of basecylinder ) heightcylinder
Volumecylinder = πx2 heightcylinder



x r x r

In the diagram at right, we’ll let

y
y = height between top of cylinder and top of cone h
h-y
h − y = height of the cylinder

Finally, we’ll use the diagram of the similar triangles x r

at right to find the height of the cylinder in terms of
x. y
x
y h h
=
x r
y h
·x= ·x r
x r
h
y= x
r

If we substitute this value into our volume function, we get

Volumecylinder = πx2 heightcylinder

= πx2 (h − y)


 
2

h
= πx h− x
r
3
πx h
= πx2 h −
r
so

πh 3
V (x) = πx2 h − x
r

Now we compute the derivative, find the critical points and determine if the critical points give a local
maximum or local minimum.

1 Stewart, Calculus, Early Transcendentals, p. 338, #32.

Continued =⇒
Calculus I
Optimization Problems

πh 3
V (x) = πx2 h − x
r
so

3πh 2
V ′ (x) = 2πxh − x
 r 
3
= πxh 2 − x
r

so

2
x=0 or x = r
3

Clearly, x = 0 does not give a maximum volume, so we test 23 r

6πh
V ′′ (x) = 2πh − x
r

and if x = 23 r,
 
2 6πh 2
V ′′ r = 2πh − · r
3 r 3
= 2πh − 4πh
= −2π
<0

so by the second derivative test, the critical value x = 32 r gives a maximum volume of
   2  3
2 2 πh 2
V r =π r h− r
3 3 r 3
   
4 2 h 8 3
=π r h−π r
9 r 27
12 8
= π r2 h − π r2 h
27 27
4 2
= πr h
27
4 2
Thus the maximum volume of a cylinder inscribed in a cone of radius r and height h is 27 πr h.