Question

Donte is making a pizza. The round pizza pan has a 15-inch diameter. What is the area of the pizza crust needed to fill the entire pan?

Answer 1

To find the area of the pizza crust needed to fill the entire pan, we first need to calculate the area of the circular pizza pan. The area \( A \) of a circle can be calculated using the formula:

\[
A = \pi r^2
\]

where \( r \) is the radius of the circle.

Given that the diameter of the pizza pan is 15 inches, we can find the radius by dividing the diameter by 2:

\[
r = \frac{15 \text{ inches}}{2} = 7.5 \text{ inches}
\]

Now we can substitute \( r \) into the area formula:

\[
A = \pi (7.5)^2
\]

Calculating \( (7.5)^2 \):

\[
(7.5)^2 = 56.25
\]

Now substitute this value back into the area formula:

\[
A = \pi \times 56.25
\]

To get a numerical approximation, we can use \( \pi \approx 3.14 \):

\[
A \approx 3.14 \times 56.25 \approx 176.625
\]

Thus, the area of the pizza crust needed to fill the entire pan is approximately:

\[
\boxed{176.63} \text{ square inches}
\]

(Note: The exact area is \( 56.25\pi \) square inches, which is about 176.71 square inches if you use a more precise value of \( \pi \) such as 3.14159.)