Solid angle orientation formula_9, and distance from the viewer as: where the surface area of a sphere is . The solid angle of a cone with its apex at the apex of the solid angle, and with apex angle 2, is the area of a spherical cap on a unit sphere For small such that , this reduces to the area of a circle . The above is found by computing the following double integral using the unit surface element in spherical coordinates: This formula can also be derived without the use of calculus. Over 2200 years ago Archimedes proved that the
Volume element formula_25. In coordinates, where formula_27 is the determinant of the metric tensor "g" written in the coordinate system. A simple example of a volume element can be explored by considering a two-dimensional surface embedded in "n"-dimensional Euclidean space. Such a volume element is sometimes called an "area element". Consider a subset formula_28 and a mapping function thus defining a surface embedded in formula_30. In two dimensions, volume is just area, and a volume element gives a way to determine the area of parts of the surface. Thus a volume element is an expression of the form that allows one to