Rent and bills aside, groceries are an obvious component of anyone’s budget. And while this (hopefully) includes staples like fruits and veggies, we can’t forget about the most essential food of all time: pizza. Besides, it’s usually the solution to most of life’s problems. Feeling stressed after a long day at work? Buy pizza. Dealing with a hangover? Order a slice. Basically, there are few things a cheesy pie can’t fix, which is why a tweet about pizza math — and how to get the most cheesy, saucy goodness possible — recently went viral.
The tweet, which was posted by Fermat’s Library, demonstrates that one 18-inch pie actually contains more pizza than two 12-inch pies. This might seem counter-intuitive, but the latter isn’t as simple as adding 12 plus 12. Instead, determining the size of two 12-inch pies means calculating the area, which equals 226 square inches. Meanwhile, one 18-inch pie equals 254 square inches, or 28 square inches more.
Remember, a pizza is a circle. And in order to calculate the area of a circle, you need to consider things like radius and pi. (No pun intended.) But thanks to heroes like Fermat’s Library, you won’t need to bother with the calculations.
The takeaway? It’s better to order one 18-inch pie, especially if you’re feeding a crowd. It will also likely be cheaper than ordering two 12-inch pies, so you can save some cash in the process.
Fermat’s Library casually shared this math tweet in early January.
Here's a useful counterintuitive fact: one 18 inch pizza has more 'pizza' than two 12 inch pizzas pic.twitter.com/hePSpG0pJs
— Fermat's Library (@fermatslibrary) January 7, 2019
@EduSum @aliceinframes I got a degree in mathematics just so I could draw this for you 🍕🤪👍 pic.twitter.com/f1qCfKDzoK
— Eddie Woo (@misterwootube) January 8, 2019
There are some days I am disappointed I did not pursue engineering any further and today is one of them. Pizza and engineering sounds like a good combo.
— Fart Sommelier (@FartSandwich) January 7, 2019
As you can imagine, pizza lovers on Twitter are losing their minds over this little-known fact…
Must have to do with order of operations. Area of circle= pi X (radius squared)
— Ann Dillon Tannous (@VieChantant) January 8, 2019
Radius=6
Squared=36
X pi = 36 X 3.14 = 113
X 2 pizzas = 226
vs
Radius = 9
Squared = 81
X pi = 81 X 3.14 = 254
— Mark Sykes (@MarkSykes15) January 7, 2019
The pizza industry has known this for years but kept their studies hidden. Thanks for speaking truth to power, Andy.
— Dale Jackson (@DaleJacksonPI) January 7, 2019
— CJ Mack (@cjbmack) January 7, 2019
Finally...”Big Pizza” being exposed for the frauds they are. You’ve done god’s work here sir thank you.
— Bill (@mrsecondnight) January 8, 2019
LOL, true.
3 x 12 inch pizzas means triple the choice in topics & more pizza than 1 x 18 inch pizza. Gotcha! 👍🏽 pic.twitter.com/l360Q9zs9t
— #NHFTHR 👇🏽 (@NHFTHR) January 7, 2019
It's no coincidence that pi is in the equation!
— Leonbergers (@leonbergers) January 7, 2019
My whole life has been a lie.
— Molly 🇺🇦 (@msamson56) January 7, 2019
The wonderful world of pizza math will benefit parents, too.
Finally! I can now coherently explain to my 10 year-old why math is important in life: without math, you might unknowingly spend more for less pizza!
— South Jersey Techy (@SJTechy) January 7, 2019
Which is why when my children ask for two slices of pizza I cut their slice in half.
— TJ Anderson (@TJSonOfAnder) January 8, 2019
Needless to say, ordering a pie will never be the same again.
