A chord of length 30 cm is at a distance of 8 cm from the center of a circle. The area of the circle is:

Using the perpendicular distance from the center to the chord, we can find the radius. If the chord length is 30 cm, half of it is 15 cm. With the distance from center being 8 cm, we form a right triangle where the radius is the hypotenuse: r = sqrt(15^2 + 8^2) = sqrt(225 + 64) = sqrt(289) = 17 cm. Therefore, the area = πr^2 = π × 17^2 = 289π square cm. The other options (529π, 441π, 361π) would correspond to radii of 23, 21, and 19 cm respectively, which don't satisfy the given conditions.