I should have said the simplistic method for the surface of a sphere is again a cube with an edge equal to the diameter so a side of 9 * 6 = 54 * .5236 = 28.2744. The result is the same as your 4*Pi*R^2 with R=3. Numbers are so strange. In this instance .7854 and .5236 occupy the oposite corners of the calculator pad which is meaningless? 3.1416^2 = 9.87 on the keypad at the top from right to left. Just curious.
jw