The Math Adventures of Mikey and Macro
Episode One: Pizza Panic
an original screenplay
Mikey, a boy of nine years of age, is shown pulling Macro, a supercomputer, in a child's wagon. Mikey is whistling to himself. They happen upon a pizza restaurant, and a man named Harold, who is looking quite puzzled.
Mikey: Excuse me, sir. You seem to be having some difficulty. May we be of service?
Harold: Yes. I am in a bit of a dilemma. You see, I wish to purchase a pizza. There are two distinct sizes being sold. A pizza with a radius of ten inches costs five dollars. A pizza with a radius of fifteen inches costs seven dollars. I wish to determine which pizza is a better value in terms of price per square inch. I have attempted to enlist the aid of the proprietor of this establishment, but he simply proclaims himself to be a puzzle wizard, and refuses to help.
The puzzle wizard laughs maniacally.
Mikey: That is a dilemma.
Harold: Will you be able to help me?
Macro performs several calculations in a fraction of a second.
Macro: The larger pizza is the better deal.
Harold: How can you be certain?
As Macro gives his explanation, appropriate diagrams are displayed.
Macro: The area of a circle is calculated by multiplying the square of the radius by the number known as pi. As a supercomputer, I can calculate pi to over one thousand decimal places, but for most practical applications, the decimal approximation 3.14 can be used. Thus, the area in square inches of the smaller pizza is 10 squared multiplied by 3.14, or 314. The pizza costs five dollars for 314 square inches, or about 1.59 cents per square inch. The larger pizza has an area of 15 squared multiplied by 3.14, or 706.5 square inches. The price is seven dollars for 706.5 square inches, or about 0.99 cents per square inch.
Harold: Wow! Thank you Mikey! Thank you Macro!
Puzzle Wizard: Well done, gentlemen. This one's on me.
Harold: Gee, thanks! But I won't be able to eat this pizza all alone! Would you care to join me?
Mikey: Would I ever!
Harold: And how about you, Macro?
Macro: All I can say is let's give pizza a chance.
They laugh.
CURTAIN
Back to Issue #1