Surface Area of Rectangular Prism
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A.
This is a rectangular prism. Draw the
base of the prism as a 2D rectangle and mark
the dimensions of all sides in the space
below.
!
!
B.
Find the PERIMETER of the rectangle
you drew in A.
C.
Hint: remember, PERIMETER is the distance around the outside of the shape.
D.
Find the AREA of the rectangle you drew in A.
What is the HEIGHT of the prism?
Hint: NOT the height of the rectangle that you drew in A.
E.
Now, plug the values in to the formula &
evaluate:
SA = ( _____ ) ( _____ ) + 2( _____ )
perimeter of base
height of prism
area of prism
What is the surface area? ____________
Hint: remember, AREA of a rectangle = base x height of the rectangle.
Hint: Don’t forget your units!
Why does this work?
If we opened up our prism using a net, we can visualize all the sides of
our prism as one large rectangle, and the perimeter of the base turns into the length of the
large rectangle. The height of the prism turns into the width of our large rectangle.
Surface Area =
SA = PH + 2B
(Perimeter of Base) (Height of Solid) + 2 (Area of Base)
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Surface Area Practice
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G.
F.
This is a rectangular prism. Draw the base of
the prism as a 2D rectangle and mark the
dimensions of all sides in the space below.
Find the PERIMETER of the rectangle you drew in A.
H.
Hint: NOT the height of the rectangle that you drew in A.
Hint: remember, PERIMETER is the distance around the outside of the shape.
I.
Find the AREA of the rectangle you drew in A.
What is the HEIGHT of the prism?
J.
Now, plug the values in to the formula & evaluate:
SA = ( _____ ) ( _____ ) + 2( _____ )
perimeter of base
height of prism
area of prism
What is the surface area? ____________
Hint: Don’t forget your units!
Hint: remember, AREA of a rectangle = base x height of the rectangle.
K. This is a TRIANGULAR prism. Draw the base
of the prism as a 2D triangle and mark the
dimensions of all sides in the space below.
L.
Find the PERIMETER of the triangle you drew in K.
M.
Hint: NOT the height of the triangle that you drew in A.
Hint: remember, PERIMETER is the distance around the outside of the shape.
N.
Find the AREA of the triangle you drew in K.
What is the HEIGHT of the prism?
O.
Now, plug the values in to the formula & evaluate:
SA = ( _____ ) ( _____ ) + 2( _____ )
perimeter of base
height of prism
area of prism
What is the surface area? ____________
Hint: remember, !"#$!!"!!!!"#$%&'( =
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.
Hint: Don’t forget your units!