Puzzler II – Solution

Our new friends the Popps, are in a food fight.  Well, not your typical ‘food fight’ – more precisely, an argument about food they are ordering.

The Popps – Sodah and Lollie – have a daughter (Momen).  They are ordering pizza and Momen wants them to order 3 individual size (8-inch) pizzas so they can each have exactly what they want.  Sodah wants to order one big (16 inch) party size pizza, since it’s a better price. (Lollie is neutral.) They compromise by deciding they’ll take the choice that gives them the most total pizza.  Which option should they choose, then, to get the most pizza?

[NOTE:  For your sneaky types, there are no hidden ‘tricks’ here: The pizzas are round and the measurements are diameters.]

SOLUTION:  The 16-inch (diameter) pizza has the most pizza.  The area of a 16-inch circle (using the formula π*r2) is 64 π (radius is 8).  The area of an 8-inch circle is 16 π (radius is 4).  So, combining 3 of the smaller pizzas only gives an area of 48 π.

NOTE2:  Technically, a pizza has volume, not area.  But if the thicknesses are the same, there’s not a problem.  The math nerd in me shudders, but the extra precision would have clouded the issue.