A hexagon is inscribed in a circle of radius . Show that the ratio of the area of the hexagon to the area of the circle is equal to . Can you see why the answer is exactly twice the answer to Question 8?
The ratio of the area of the hexagon to the area of the circle is 3/2π 0.827.
The answer is exactly twice the answer to Question 8 because a hexagon inscribed in a circle has exactly twice the area of an equilateral triangle inscribed in the same circle.
Explanation
For part (i), a regular hexagon inscribed in a circle of radius can be divided into 6 equilateral triangles, each with side . The area of one equilateral triangle is , making the hexagon's total area . Dividing this by the circle's area yields the ratio .
For part (ii), Question 8 involves an equilateral triangle inscribed in a circle of radius , which has an area of . Since the hexagon's area is exactly twice this, its ratio to the circle's area is also exactly twice.