Surface of revolution never negative, the area is given by If the curve is described by the function , , then the integral becomes for revolution around the -axis, and for revolution around the "y"-axis (using ). These come from the above formula. For example, the spherical surface with unit radius is generated by the curve , , when ranges over . Its area is therefore For the case of the spherical curve with radius , rotated about the -axis A minimal surface of revolution is the surface of revolution of the curve between two given points which minimizes surface area. A basic
Menger sponge itself is the limit of this process after an infinite number of iterations. The "n"th stage of the Menger sponge, "M", is made up of 20 smaller cubes, each with a side length of (1/3). The total volume of "M" is thus (20/27). The total surface area of "M" is given by the expression 2(20/9) + 4(8/9). Therefore the construction's volume approaches zero while its surface area increases without bound. Yet any chosen surface in the construction will be thoroughly punctured as the construction continues, so that the limit is neither a solid nor a surface; it has a topological