What about crust? Doesn't a bigger pizza have proportionally more crust?

No, and this is part of why bigger pizzas are even better than the area math suggests. Crust width is roughly constant (about 1 inch). So as the pizza grows, the topping-area grows even faster than the total area. A 12-inch pizza is about 71% topping by area; a 16-inch is about 78%. More cheese, less bread, per inch.

Why does the smaller pizza cost more per square inch?

Fixed costs. Every pizza has the same labor, the same box, the same oven time, the same delivery overhead. Doubling the dough doesn't double the cost of producing the pizza, but the menu price reflects the "bigger feels worth more" instinct. The pizzeria captures the gap.

What if I can't finish a 16-inch?

Then this analysis is moot, the cheapest pizza is the one you eat. But cold pizza is a national treasure and the 16-inch holds up overnight better than two thinner 12s.

Is a 16-inch always twice as good as a 10-inch?

By area, yes, and then some. A 16-inch has 256 square inches before you subtract crust; a 10-inch has 79. That's 3.2x more pizza for, typically, about 1.8x the price.

Does this work for square (Detroit-style) pizzas too?

Yes. The squaring effect applies to any quasi-2D shape. A 12×12 Detroit-style pan has 144 square inches; a 16×16 has 256, almost 80% more.

Real-world math

Are Two 12-Inch Pizzas Worth a 16-Inch?

A viral tweet, an angry restaurant, and the geometric reason your eyes lie to you about pizza size, with the formula, the chart, and the verdict.

Quick answer

No. One 16-inch pizza has more pizza in it than two 12-inch pizzas. Two 12-inch pizzas total 226 square inches. One 16-inch pizza is 201 square inches. Wait, that means the two-12 deal is actually slightly bigger? Yes, but only by about 12%, and you're paying for two crusts, two cardboard boxes, and two delivery surcharges to get it. The 16-inch is still the better deal almost every time. Read on for why your gut feeling that "two pizzas obviously beats one" is way more wrong than the actual numbers suggest.

Open this in math.im for the full interactive version →

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