Thread: Circle and hexagon problem.

Heres the problem:

A hexagon is machined from a circle having a diameter of 8 cm. How much area needs to be removed from the circle?


I've found the area of the circle, but I can't figure out how to get the area of the hexagon from the information given. Its not located anywhere in my text.
Thanks for any advice!

Originally Posted by caperjay

Heres the problem:

A hexagon is machined from a circle having a diameter of 8 cm. How much area needs to be removed from the circle?


I've found the area of the circle, but I can't figure out how to get the area of the hexagon from the information given. Its not located anywhere in my text.
Thanks for any advice!

Assuming that it's a regular hexagon, it will be made up of six equilateral triangles which have the same side length as the radius of the circle. You can evaluate each triangle's area using Heron's Formula.

Originally Posted by Prove It

Assuming that it's a regular hexagon, it will be made up of six equilateral triangles which have the same side length as the radius of the circle. You can evaluate each triangle's area using Heron's Formula.

Ahh yes I can't believe I overlooked that, thanks alot!