A cylinder has a surface area of 42pi cm^2. If it were dilated using a scale factor of 1/2, what is the surface area of the new cylinder?

13.5pi cm^2
21pi cm^2
84pi cm^2
10.5pi cm^2

1 answer

To find the surface area of the new cylinder after dilation by a scale factor of \( \frac{1}{2} \), we can use the fact that when an object is dilated by a scale factor \( k \), its surface area is multiplied by \( k^2 \).

In this case, the scale factor \( k \) is \( \frac{1}{2} \). Therefore, the surface area of the new cylinder will be:

\[ \text{New Surface Area} = \text{Original Surface Area} \times k^2 \]

Substituting in the values we have:

\[ \text{New Surface Area} = 42\pi , \text{cm}^2 \times \left(\frac{1}{2}\right)^2 \] \[ = 42\pi , \text{cm}^2 \times \frac{1}{4} \] \[ = \frac{42\pi}{4} , \text{cm}^2 \] \[ = 10.5\pi , \text{cm}^2 \]

Thus, the surface area of the new cylinder is \( 10.5\pi , \text{cm}^2 \).

The correct answer is \( 10.5\pi , \text{cm}^2 \).