Ramon Teves Pastor Memorial – Dumaguete Science High School

Prepared By: Miss Kassandra Venzuelo

1.5
Circumferenc
e and Area of
a Circle

Objectives:

a) define area and circumference;

b) solve for the circumference and area of a
circle.
1.5 Circumference & Area of a Circle

The circumference is the distance around a circle or any curved geometrical shape. It is the one-dimensional
linear measurement of the boundary across any two-dimensional circular surface. It follows the same principle
behind finding the perimeter of any polygon which is why calculating the circumference of a circle which is
also known as the perimeter of a circle.

A circle is defined as shapes with all the points are equidistant from a point at the center.

The value of pi is approximately 3.1415926535897… and we use a Greek letter π (pronounced as Pi) to
describe this number. The value π is a non-terminating value.

The ratio of the circumference C of a circle to its diameter d is exactly the same for all circles. This ratio is
denoted by the Greek letter (pi). Thus, by definition, . Hence, the circumference of a circle is the product
of and the diameter of the circle.

Theorem:
The circumference C of a circle with a diameter d or radius r is given by 𝐶 𝜋𝑑 𝑜𝑟 𝐶 2𝜋𝑟.

Example:

The radius of a circle is 2 inches. Find its circumference.

Solution:

; = 2 · (2 in) = = 4 in

= * = = 3.14 · (4 in)

C = 12.56 in
The diameter of a circle is 3 centimeters. What is its circumference?

Solution:

= *

= 3.14 · (3 cm)

= 9.42 cm

Area of a Circle

Find an approximation for the area of the circle

with diameter 6 cm, correct to 2 decimals places.
The area of a circle is measured in terms of its
radius. Take a circular piece of paper cut into 16
equal pieces and rearrange these 16 pieces as
shown in the left.

Notice that the figure formed resembles a parallelogram. The base is approximately equal to half the
circumference of the circular region.

Area of the 16 pieces area of the parallelogram

Thus, is approximately equal to the area of a circle with radius r.

Solving the problem,

2 2

Example (given diameter):

Find the area of a circle with a diameter of 8 feet.

The radius of any circle is always half the diameter. Since the diameter of the circle is 8 feet, the radius must be
4 feet (the radius is always half of the diameter). So, we can apply the formula using r=4.

Example (given radius):

Find the area of a circle with a radius of 5 meters.