Surface Area Tutorial
Surface Area of Rectangular Prisms Surface area is the measure of the outside faces on a 3-D figure. Find the area of each and add them up!
What are the dimensions of this rectangle? 4 cm 7 cm 10 Do you see the RED face? What are the dimensions of this rectangle? 4 cm 10 cm
Do you see another face that is just like the RED face? 4 cm 7 cm 10 Do you see another face that is just like the RED face? Where is it located? Keep an eye on the next screen!
Yes, it’s on the back. 10cm 4 cm
40cm2 Now there are 2 rectangles that each have an area of 40 sq. cm
What are the dimensions of this rectangle? 4 cm 7 cm 10 Do you see the BLUE face? What are the dimensions of this rectangle? 4 cm 7 cm
Do you see another face that is just like the BLUE face? 4 cm 7 cm 10 Do you see another face that is just like the BLUE face? Where is it located?
Yes, it’s on the left side. 7 cm 4 cm 4 cm 7 cm
28cm2 Now there are 2 rectangles that each have an area of 28 sq. cm.
Do you see the GREEN face? 4cm 7 cm 10cm Do you see the GREEN face? What are the dimensions of this rectangle? 7 cm 10 cm
Do you see another face that is just like the GREEN face? 4 cm 7 cm 10 Do you see another face that is just like the GREEN face? Where is it located?
Yes, it’s on the bottom. 10cm 7 cm 10cm 7 cm
70cm2 Now there are 2 rectangles that each have an area of 70 sq. cm.
Now we just need to add all the areas of the sides together. + 70cm2 28cm2 40cm2
The total Surface Area for this rectangular prism is 40 + 40 + 28 + 28 + 70 + 70 = 276cm2
Here is another method! 140 + 56 + 80 = 276 sq. cm 4 cm 7 cm 10 Top & Bottom They are the same so find the area of one of them and multiply by 2. A = bh or A = lw A = 10 x 7 A = 70 70 x 2 = 140 Left & Right They are the same so find the area of on side and multiply by 2. A = bh or A = lw A = 4 x 7 A = 28 28 x 2 = 56 Front & Back They are the same so find the area of one of them and multiply by 2. A = bh or A = lw A = 10 x 4 A = 40 40 x 2 = 80 140 + 56 + 80 = 276 sq. cm