Proof of the Area of a Circle Formula A = πr2

nr1337

November 19, 2004

Theorem 1. The area of a circle with radius r is πr2 .

Proof: The equation of a circle centered at the origin is

x2 + y 2 = r2 ,
where r is the radius. We write y in terms of the variable x and the constant
r:

x2 y 2
+ 2 =1
r2 r
r
y x2
= 1− 2
r r
r
x2
y =r 1− 2
r
By symmetry, the area of a circle centered at the origin is four times the
area of the circle between (0, 0) and (r, 0) above the x-axis. We can integrate
to find the area (A):
Z rr
x2
A = 4r 1 − 2 dx
0 r
r
x2
To evaluate the antiderivative of 1 − 2 , we make the substitutions:
r
x = r sin θ
x
θ = arcsin
r
dx = r cos θ dθ
Thus, our integral becomes:

1
 r
r π/2
x2
Z Z p
A = 4r 1 − 2 dx = 4r r 1 − sin2 θ cos θ dθ
0 r 0

We can use the trigonometric identity 1 − sin2 θ = cos2 θ:

Z π/2 p Z π/2
A = 4r r 1 − sin2 θ cos θ dθ = 4r2 cos2 θ dθ
0 0
1
We then apply cos2 θ = 2 (1 + cos 2θ):

Z π/2 Z π/2
2 2 2 1
4r cos θ dθ = 4r (1 + cos 2θ) dθ
0 0 2
π/2 Z π/2

2  2
= 2r θ + 2r cos 2θ dθ
 0
0
π/2

= πr2 + 2r2 (sin 2θ)


0
2
= πr

Thus, the area of a circle with radius r is πr2 .