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Worked Examples · Example 1

Q.Find the rate of change of the area of a circle per second with respect to its radius rr when r=5r = 5 cm.

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✓ Free question

The rate of change of a circle's area with respect to its radius is dAdr=2πr\dfrac{dA}{dr}=2\pi r, which is 10π cm2/cm10\pi\ \text{cm}^2/\text{cm} at r=5r=5 cm.

Read the question carefully

We are asked for the rate at which the area changes with respect to the radius — that is precisely the derivative dAdr\dfrac{dA}{dr}. This is a plain derivative evaluation, not a related-rates (time) problem: no rate drdt\dfrac{dr}{dt} is given, so we must not invent one.

Step 1 — Write the area formula

A=πr2.A=\pi r^2.

Step 2 — Differentiate with respect to rr

Since π\pi is a constant,

dAdr=ddr(πr2)=2πr.\frac{dA}{dr}=\frac{d}{dr}\big(\pi r^2\big)=2\pi r.

Nicely, this is just the circumference of the circle: increasing the radius by a sliver drdr adds a thin ring of area ≈2πr dr\approx 2\pi r\,dr.

Step 3 — Substitute r=5r=5 cm

dAdr∣r=5=2π(5)=10π≈31.42.\left.\frac{dA}{dr}\right|_{r=5}=2\pi(5)=10\pi\approx 31.42.

Units

Area is in cm2\text{cm}^2 and radius in cm\text{cm}, so dAdr\dfrac{dA}{dr} is in cm2/cm\text{cm}^2/\text{cm} — square centimetres of area per centimetre of radius. (The word "per second" in the question is loose textbook phrasing; nothing here depends on time.)

Watch out

Do not write this as dAdt\dfrac{dA}{dt} or attach units of cm2/s\text{cm}^2/\text{s}. That would require a given time-rate drdt\dfrac{dr}{dt}, which the problem does not provide.

✓Final answer

When r=5r=5 cm, the area changes at the rate dAdr=2πr=10π cm2/cm (≈31.4 cm2 per cm)\dfrac{dA}{dr}=2\pi r=10\pi\ \text{cm}^2/\text{cm}\ (\approx 31.4\ \text{cm}^2\text{ per cm}).

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