Okay so it’s Friday night, you and two friends are hanging out. Everyone is getting hungry for pizza. Luckily everyone wants pepperoni. The first dilemma is solved and onto the second. how many pizzas and what size? You look on top of the fridge for one of those coupons that you have found hanging from your doorknob a few days before. Once you have it located you notice there are two specials for the same price. The first is two large 16″ one topping pizzas for $16.99, the second is three medium 12″ one topping pizzas for $16.99. After a quick poll, the three of you opt for the three mediums. A half an hour later the pizza shows up and is quickly devoured by your trio.

As you all sit back and relax, not quite as full as you expected, you wonder if this was the best choice to get the most pizza for your money. You decide to do the math. Let’s see if the area of a circle can be determined by the formula – p*r*r – or 3.14 * ½ the diameter * ½ the diameter – it should be easy to figure this one out. Let’s start with the large.. 200.96 sq in. Now we multiply this by 2(number of pizzas) and we get 401.92 sq in. Now for the mediums, 3.14 * 6 * 6 = 113.04 sq in. Multiply this by 3(number of pizzas) and we get 339.12 sq in. So it appears that you have made the wrong decision, as far as getting the most pizza for your money. The three mediums are only 84% of the pizza that you could have gotten for the same price.

Now in a situation where a variety of toppings were needed it might be a better idea to pick the three mediums. That way each of you could choose exactly what you wanted on your own pizza. If more pizza is what you are after, go with the larges.