A pizza with a 12-inch diameter is cut into 8 equal slices. What is the arc length of one slice?

1 answer

To find the arc length of one slice of the pizza, we first need to determine the radius of the pizza and the angle corresponding to one slice.

  1. Calculate the radius: The diameter of the pizza is 12 inches, so the radius \( r \) is half of that: \[ r = \frac{12\text{ inches}}{2} = 6\text{ inches}. \]

  2. Determine the angle of one slice: The pizza is cut into 8 equal slices. The angle \( \theta \) in degrees of one slice can be calculated as follows: \[ \theta = \frac{360\text{ degrees}}{8} = 45\text{ degrees}. \]

  3. Convert the angle to radians: To use the formula for arc length, we need to convert the angle from degrees to radians. We know that \( 180\text{ degrees} = \pi\text{ radians} \), so: \[ \theta = 45\text{ degrees} \times \frac{\pi\text{ radians}}{180\text{ degrees}} = \frac{\pi}{4}\text{ radians}. \]

  4. Calculate the arc length: The arc length \( L \) of a portion of a circle is given by the formula: \[ L = r \times \theta, \] where \( r \) is the radius and \( \theta \) is the angle in radians. Substituting in our values: \[ L = 6\text{ inches} \times \frac{\pi}{4} = \frac{6\pi}{4} = \frac{3\pi}{2}\text{ inches}. \]

Thus, the arc length of one slice of the pizza is: \[ \boxed{\frac{3\pi}{2}} \text{ inches}. \]