Draw Gabriel's Horn
Visualize infinite surface area/finite volume. Runs entirely in your browser, so your data never leaves your device.
Output
The result appears here as you type.
How to use Draw Gabriel's Horn
- 1. Set the horn length. Enter a value in Horn length to control how far the curve y = 1/x extends before the drawing stops, changing how elongated the rendered horn appears.
- 2. Adjust the canvas and styling. Set Width and Height for the drawing, and choose Line color and Background color along with Line width to style the sketch of the horn.
- 3. Review the rendered horn. The tool draws the curves y = plus or minus 1/x with elliptical cross-sections, suggesting the solid formed by revolving the curve around the x axis.
- 4. Download the image. Save the SVG sketch of Gabriel's horn to illustrate a calculus lesson, a math blog post, or a discussion of the painter's paradox.
When to use Draw Gabriel's Horn
Draw Gabriel's Horn sketches the solid of revolution formed by rotating y = 1/x around the x axis, the shape famous for having infinite surface area but finite volume. Use it to make that paradox visually concrete.
- Illustrating a calculus lecture on solids of revolution. A calculus course covering integrals for surface area and volume uses Gabriel's horn as its signature example, and a rendered image helps students picture the shape being integrated.
- Explaining the painter's paradox. You are writing an explainer on why the horn can theoretically be filled with a finite amount of paint yet never fully painted on the outside, and an image anchors the discussion.
- Adding a visual to a math history piece. An article on Torricelli's original 17th-century trumpet shape benefits from a modern rendered sketch alongside the historical explanation of the paradox.
- Comparing horn lengths visually. You want to see how the shape looks when truncated at different lengths, rendering the horn at several Horn length values to compare the resulting proportions.
Examples
Gabriel's horn (y = 1/x revolved around the x axis)
Output
An SVG sketch of the horn: the curves y = ±1/x with elliptical cross-sections suggesting the solid of revolution.
About the Draw Gabriel's Horn tool
Draw Gabriel's Horn does its work locally, right in the browser. Visualize infinite surface area/finite volume. There is no upload step, no queue and no account, and your data never travels over the network.
It belongs to the Math Tools collection on EditSafely, a set of 234 small, focused Math utilities that share the same instant, private workspace.
You can shape the output with 6 settings, including Horn length, Width (px), Height (px) and Line color, and the result refreshes the moment you change one. A worked example further down the page shows exactly what the tool produces for a real input.
Running locally also makes the tool fast and dependable: results appear as you type or drop a file, there is no server outage that can take it down mid-task, and confidential data can be processed without a second thought.
Frequently asked questions
Is Draw Gabriel's Horn free to use?
Yes, it is completely free. All 2,658 tools on EditSafely work without an account, a subscription or usage limits.
Does the generator send anything to a server?
Everything happens locally. Your browser downloads the tool's code once, then does all the processing itself; nothing you enter is transmitted, stored or logged. You can even go offline after the page loads and it will still work.
How do I get a different result?
Run the generator again. Each run is computed fresh on your device, and any options you change are applied to the next result immediately.
Do I need to sign up or install anything?
No. The tool works in any modern browser on desktop, tablet or phone. There is no account to create, no extension to add and no software to install.
Can I save what the tool produces?
Yes. Use the download or copy controls in the output panel to keep the rendered result once it looks the way you want.