circles
No way! That’s just
freaky. How come they
all came out the same?
Jim
Joe
Frank: Well…I think I know HOW it happened, I just don’t
know WHY it happened.…
Joe: Really? Say more.…
Frank: Hmm. Well, see how the first time we multiplied by
six because we were chopping it into six slices, and then we
divided by six while calculating the arc length? They cancel
out, don’t they?
Jim: Yeah—and I guess the next one does as well—when we
chopped it into 10, and we divided and multiplied by 10.
Frank: And with the 30 pieces, too. The number of slices is
always cancelling out.
Joe: OK, I see that, but don’t you think it’s kind of weird that
we got the same answer each time, even though we were using
arc length just as an approximation for the triangle base?
Frank: Ah! OK—that’s it—that’s exactly it!
Joe: What’s it?
Frank: OK, when we have a few big slices the arc length is
really pretty different from the triangle base.
Jim: Yes, very different.
Frank: But, the more slices we chop the circle into, the nearer
the arc length is to the triangle base length. So, eventually—if
we chop the circle into like a million pieces—it’s not an
approximation anymore, it’s a perfect fit!
Jim: Yes. Cool! In fact, I think we’ve just found the formula
for the area of a circle.
Frank
Based on the pattern you found in your investigation, what do
YOU think the formula for the area of a circle might be?
T
ry s
tarting wi
th a w
ord equa
tion,
and then work i
t up in algebra if
y
ou’r
e f
eeling confident.
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