Circle Sector and Segment
A circular sector or circle sector (symbol: ⌔), is the portion of a disk enclosed by two radii and an arc, where the smaller area is known as the minor sector and the larger being the major sector. In the diagram, θ is the central angle in radians,
the radius of the circle, and
is the arc length of the minor sector.
A sector with the central angle of 180° is called a semicircle. Sectors with other central angles are sometimes given special names, these include quadrants (90°), sextants (60°) and octants (45°).
The angle formed by connecting the endpoints of the arc to any point on the circumference that is not in the sector is equal to half the central angle.
n geometry, a circular segment (symbol: ⌓) is an area of a circle informally defined as an area which is "cut off" from the rest of the circle by a secant or a chord. The circle segment constitutes the part between the secant and an arc, excluding of the circle's center.
the radius of the circle, and
is the arc length of the minor sector.A sector with the central angle of 180° is called a semicircle. Sectors with other central angles are sometimes given special names, these include quadrants (90°), sextants (60°) and octants (45°).
The angle formed by connecting the endpoints of the arc to any point on the circumference that is not in the sector is equal to half the central angle.
n geometry, a circular segment (symbol: ⌓) is an area of a circle informally defined as an area which is "cut off" from the rest of the circle by a secant or a chord. The circle segment constitutes the part between the secant and an arc, excluding of the circle's center.
Contents
SlicesThere are two main "slices" of a circle:
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Try Them!
| Sector | Segment |
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Common Sectors
The Quadrant and Semicircle are two special types of Sector:![]() |
Quarter of a circle is called a Quadrant. Half a circle is called a Semicircle. |
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Area of a SectorYou can work out the Area of a Sector by comparing its angle to the angle of a full circle.Note: I am using radians for the angles. |
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This is the reasoning:
Area of Sector = ½ × θ × r2 (when θ is in radians)
Area of Sector = ½ × (θ × π/180) × r2 (when θ is in degrees)
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Arc LengthBy the same reasoning, the arc length (of a Sector or Segment) is:
L = θ × r (when θ is in radians)
L = (θ × π/180) × r (when θ is in degrees)
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Area of SegmentThe Area of a Segment is the area of a sector minus the triangular piece (shown in light blue here).There is a lengthy reason, but the result is a slight modification of the Sector formula: |
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Area of Segment = ½ × (θ - sin θ) × r2 (when θ is in radians)
Area of Segment = ½ × ( (θ × π/180) - sin θ) × r2 (when θ is in degrees)
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