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
Surface energy radius formula_1 and length formula_2 at high temperature and a constant uniaxial tension formula_3, then at equilibrium, the variation of the total Helmholtz free energy vanishes and we have where formula_5 is the Helmholtz free energy and formula_6 is the surface area of the rod: Also, since the volume (formula_8) of the rod remains constant, the variation (formula_9) of the volume is zero, i.e., Therefore, the surface energy density can be expressed as The surface energy density of the solid can be computed by measuring formula_3, formula_1, and formula_2 at equilibrium. This method is valid only if the solid is