Lesson 2 From Polygons to Circles Solidify Understanding
Jump Start
1.
Represent each of the following situations with a table, a graph, and an equation:
a.
Your family is planning a trip, and you have stopped at the gas station to fill up the car. You notice that the gas pump dispenses gas at a rate of
b.
Once you are on the road you set the cruise control at
c.
You notice that at this speed, your car’s fuel efficiency is
2.
What do all of these problems have in common?
Learning Focus
Relate the circumference and area of circles to the perimeter and area of regular polygons.
Where did
Open Up the Math: Launch, Explore, Discuss
Part 1: From Perimeter to Circumference
In the previous lesson, Planning the Gazebo, you developed a strategy for finding the perimeter of a regular polygon with
1.
Using Tehani’s diagram, explain how she arrived at her formula.
2.
Since
3.
As the number of sides
4.
Write a formula for the circumference of a circle based on Tehani’s formula for the perimeter of an inscribed regular
Part 2: From the Area of a Polygon to the Area of a Circle
Area: approach #1
Tehani’s formula for the area of a regular polygon with
5.
Explain in detail how Tehani arrived at this formula. You may refer to Tehani’s diagram in problem 1.
6.
Travis suggests that they might rewrite Tehani’s formula in the form
7.
As the number of sides
8.
Write a formula for the area of a circle based on Tehani’s formula for the area of an inscribed regular
Area: Approach #2
A circle can be decomposed into a set of thin, concentric rings, as shown on the left in the following diagram. If we unroll and stack these rings, we can approximate a triangle as shown in the figure below.
9.
Describe the height of this “triangle” relative to the circle.
10.
Describe the length of the base of this “triangle” relative to the circle.
11.
As the rings get narrower and narrower, the triangular shape gets closer and closer to an exact triangle with the same area as the circle. What would this diagram suggest for the formula of the area of a circle?
Area: Approach #3
A circle can be decomposed into a set of congruent sectors, as shown in the following diagram. We can rearrange these sectors to approximate a parallelogram as shown.
12.
Describe the height of the “parallelogram” relative to the circle.
13.
Describe the base of this “parallelogram” relative to the circle.
14.
As we decompose the circle into more and more sectors, the “parallelogram” shape gets closer and closer to an exact parallelogram with the same area as the circle. What would this diagram suggest for the formula for the area of a circle?
Ready for More?
1.
a.
Complete the following table for the area of various circles using the formula derived in the exploration:
b.
Plot
c.
Plot
2.
Is the area of a circle proportional to its radius? Why or why not?
3.
Why is it appropriate to refer to
Takeaways
The perimeter of a regular polygon is proportional to the diameter of the circle in which it can be inscribed.
The constant of proportionality
As the number of sides of the regular polygon inscribed within a circle increases, the perimeter of the polygon
This leads to the formula for the circumference of a circle:
Using similar reasoning, as the number of sides of the regular polygon inscribed within a circle increases, the area of the polygon
This leads to the formula for the area of a circle:
Vocabulary
- convergence
- limit (convergence)
- Bold terms are new in this lesson.
Lesson Summary
Previously, we have been given formulas for the circumference and area of a circle and have used them in application problems. In this lesson, we learned where these formulas came from and gained a better sense of why
1.
Find the perimeter and area of the figure.
(Assume the diameters of the cone and the ice cream are the same.)
2.
Use the given circle to find the indicated measures.
a.
circumference of the entire circle
b.
the fractional part of the circle
c.
the shortest arc length
(The shortest arc length from