3 ms·
One explanation could be the following based on the supposition that one starts with rectangular pieces of metal. To minimize waste for a circle one begins with
by johnp314 6y ago
One explanation could be the following based on the supposition that one starts with rectangular pieces of metal. To minimize waste for a circle one begins with a square piece and cuts out the maximum circle contained therein. The waste is (area of square) - (area of circle). If the circle was to be 4 inches in diameter (2 inch radius) cut from a 4-by-4 square the waste is 4^2 - Pi2^2 = 3.43, whereas a 2 inch diameter circle cut from a 2-by-2 square has waste of 2^2 - Pi1^2 = 0.86. The cylindrical side needed to achieve a given volume is rectangular so has no waste in either case.
- nonick 6y agoFrom a 4-by-4 inch square you can make 4 2-by-2 inch squares, therefore the loss from 4 small squares would be 0.86x4=3.44, same as one large square.