In order to make a circular sign, you decide to use a square piece of plywood and trim off as little of the area as possible. write a simplified formula for a, the least possible area of wood that you will not use, given that one edge of the square has length w?

The area of the square is W^2

The area of the circle will be PI * radius^2
where the radius = (W/2)
So, the circle area = PI * (W/2)^2 = PI * (W^2 /4)

If square has a 12 inch side its area is 144 square inches.
The circle would be PI * (144 / 4) = PI * 36 =
113.0973355292 square inches

So, A = (W^2) - (PI * (W^2 / 4)