Answer:
a. The surface area is

b. The radius is 8 cm
Explanation:
The surface area of a beachball is modeled by the function

Where x is the radius of the beachball.
It's given that a beachball of radius 12 cm has a surface area of

This information will allow us to find the value of a by substituting in the model:

Dividing by 144:
a = 1809.56/144
a = 12.57
The model is now:

Now we can solve parts a and b:
a . Find the surface area of a beachball of radius x=15 cm


The surface area is

b. Find the radius of a beachball with a surface area of

We need to solve:

Dividing by 12.57:

Thus:

x=8 cm
The radius is 8 cm