Final answer:
The area inside Simone's circular exercise pen with a radius of 2.5 feet is approximately 20 square feet. The area was calculated using the formula for the area of a circle and rounded to two significant figures.
Step-by-step explanation:
To find the area inside the pen, which is a circle, we use the formula for the area of a circle, A = πr², where π is Pi (approximately 3.14159) and r is the radius of the circle. Since Simone's circular exercise pen has a radius of 2.5 feet, we calculate the area as follows:
A = π(2.5 ft)²
A ≈ 3.14159 × (2.5 ft)×(2.5 ft)
A ≈ 19.634954375 ft²
However, because the radius was given with two significant figures, the area should also be reported with two significant figures, which would be:
A ≈ 20 ft²
So the area inside Simone's exercise pen is approximately 20 square feet. Note that the answer is less than 4 m², which is what you would get if the pen were a square with a side length of the diameter of the circle (5 feet, which does not convert to 2 meters).