Notes to Teachers

These puzzles are aimed at KS4 students who have a sound knowledge of pi and its
uses. Puzzle 4 can provide the basis for an investigation on areas for KS4 students.

Puzzle 5 is aimed at Higher tier students who have also covered trigonometry in
triangles without right angles.
Pi Day Puzzles
 Puzzle 1
Three identical square boxes are packed with pies of differing sizes. Which box
contains the greatest amount of pie, assuming that each pie is the same depth?
 Puzzle 2
What is the radius of this circle?

11cm

2cm
 Puzzle 3
Four pies, with a radius r, are shown below. The pies are held together by a
rubber band.
How long is the rubber band, as stretched below?
 Puzzle 4
Which fits better (leaves the least space), a square inside a circle or a circle
inside a square?
 Puzzle 5
An equilateral triangle is inscribed in a circle with a radius of 1 unit, as shown
below.
What fraction of the whole circle is shaded?
 Solutions
Puzzle 1
All boxes contain the same amount of pie!

As all of the pies touch the sides of the boxes, we know that 4 small pies have the
same total diameter as 2 medium pies or 1 large pie.

Knowing this, the easiest way to work out the area is to let the radius of the smallest
pies be r.

The area of the 16 small pies is therefore 16 × 𝜋𝑟2 = 16𝜋r 2.

The area of the 4 medium pies (which have a radius of 2r) is

4 × 𝜋 × (2r)2 = 16𝜋r2.

The area of the large pie (which has a radius of 4r) is 𝜋 × (4r)2 = 16𝜋r2.
 Solutions
Puzzle 2
This was a trick question; you don’t need Pythagoras’ theorem to solve it!

The radius of the circle is the same as the diagonal length of the rectangle, which is
11cm. Did you spot it?
 Solutions
Puzzle 3
A quarter of each pie’s circumference is covered by the rubber band, therefore the
total length of these portions of the band is 2πr. (We could divide by 4 and
multiply by 4, but we’d end up back here anyway!).

The parts of the band not in contact with the pies each have a length of 2r. As
there are 4 of them, the total length of the stretched rubber band is given by 2πr +
8r.
 Solutions
Puzzle 4
r r

First let’s look at a circle in a square. If the circle has a radius of r, then the area
not occupied will be 4r2 – πr2. As a fraction of the square, this is
4r2 – πr,2 which simplifies to 1 - . π
4r2 4

Now, let’s look at a square in a circle, still with a radius of r. The area not
1
occupied will be πr2 – 2 ( x22r x r) = πr2 – 2r2. As a fraction of the circle, this is
πr2 – 2r2 2
, which simplifies
πr2
to 1 - . π
π 2
4 is larger than , which
π tells us that the least area left unoccupied is in the circle
in the square. Therefore, a square fits better in a circle than the other way round.
 Solutions
Puzzle 5
Start by drawing the right-angled triangle shown, with the hypotenuse extending
from one angle to the centre of the larger triangle.

The area of the circle is π × 12 = π units2

The length of the base of the right-angled triangle

1 60o
can be found by using trigonometry. 30o
a
cos(30) = 1
√3
a= 2

Therefore, the length of one side of the large triangle

1 is √3 units.
The area of the large triangle is given by absinC.
2
1 3√3
2× √3 × √3 × sin(60) = units
4 2

3√3
π- 4 3√3
π 4π
Therefore, the fraction which is shaded is =1-