Surface Area of a Rectangular Prism-Geometry Help

Step by step directions for finding the surface area of a rectangular prism measuring 5 units by 5 units by 4 units

Questions answered this video..
How do you find the total surface area of a rectangular prism?

How do you find the area of the top and bottom of a rectangular prism?
How do you find the area of the sides of a rectangular prism?

If you have a rectangular prism with sides of 4 units and a top of 5 units in length?

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How to find the surface area of a prism

How to find the surface area of a prism

Surface Area of a Prism

First, what is a prism? A prism is a rectangular solid with a length, a width, and a height.

To find the surface area you are trying to figure out the total area of the surface of the prism.

The formula for finding the surface area equals

2* (length *width) + 2(length*height) + 2*(height * width) = Surface area of a prism

Find the surface area of a prism with a length of 6 units, a height of3 units and a width of 4 units.

Step 1. Plug in the appropriate units in the formula

              2* (6*4) + 2(6*3) + 2( 3*4)

                   (L*W)      ( L*H)      (H*W)

Step 2. 2*24 + 2*18 + 2*12

Step 3. 48+36+24 = 108 units squared 

Surface area is always squared

 

How to find the volume of a prism

Volume of a Prism

Here is the problem worked on video

What is a prism? A prism is a three dimensional figure with parallel bases.

The formula for finding the volume of a prism is just length X width X height

Let’s look at a problem

What is the volume of a prism with a base of 6 by 7 units and a height of 9 units?

 

Step 1 Plug the units into the formula l * w * h    6*7*9

Step 2. Multiply 6*7*9 = 42*9

            42*9 = 378 units cubed (volume is always cubed)

 

Now a prism can be have different shaped bases. The key to finding the volume is to find the base area formula for that shape and then multiply this by the height.

Check here for a list of most base area formulas

For example, if you had a triangle shaped prism you would use ½ base x length x height to find the volume of the triangular prism