Question 39·Medium·Circles
A circle has a radius of units. What is the area, in square units, of the sector determined by a central angle measuring ?
For sector-area questions, immediately think: sector area equals (angle / 360) times the full circle area . Simplify the angle fraction first (for example, simplifies to ), then compute the full circle area and multiply by that fraction. Finally, do a quick reasonableness check: compare your sector angle to and to see if your area makes sense compared with one-quarter or one-half of the full circle.
Hints
Think of the sector as a fraction of the circle
Ask yourself: what fraction of the whole circle does a angle represent out of ?
Use the circle area formula
First, find the area of the entire circle using with . Keep your answer in terms of .
Combine the fraction and the full area
Once you know the fraction and the full area of the circle, multiply them to get the area of the sector. Simplify the fraction before multiplying to make the arithmetic easier.
Desmos Guide
Calculate the sector area numerically
In Desmos, type (135/360)*pi*8^2 and press Enter to get a decimal value for the sector area. Then either divide that result by pi (type your result /pi) to see the coefficient of , or separately evaluate each option (e.g., 18*pi, 24*pi, etc.) and compare the decimal values to see which answer choice matches your computed sector area.
Step-by-step Explanation
Relate sector area to circle area
A sector is a portion of a circle. Its area is given by
Here, the central angle is and the radius is .
Find the fraction of the full circle
Compute what fraction of a full circle represents:
Simplify this fraction by dividing numerator and denominator by :
So the sector is of the entire circle.
Find the area of the full circle
Use the circle area formula with :
So the entire circle has area square units.
Compute the sector area
The sector area is of :
First, multiply by :
So the sector area is
square units, which corresponds to choice B) .