Area of a Sector

A circle sector is the part of a circle enclosed by two radii and an arc. When finding the area of a sector of a circle, you are actually finding a fractional part of the circle. The percentage is equated by the ratio of the central angle to the entire central angle, which is 360 degrees. To find the area of a sector in degrees, you would do the following steps:

1. First, identify the degree of the sector

2.Then, identify the radius of the circle

3. Multiply the radius (squared) times theta times pie.

EXAMPLE:

Find the area of a sector with a central angle of 60 degrees and a radius of 10. Express answer to the nearest tenth.

A = (theta)(pie)(radius)[squared]

(60)(pie)(10)[squared]

52.35987756

A = 52.4

Finding the area of a sector is fairly easy and useful. When we understand the area of a sector we can see the importance of the relationship of pie, theta, and the radius of a circle. Understanding circle sectors can lead to far more knowledge when learning about circles.