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Circumference, Area,
Surface Area, and Volume
By Taylor Winter
Derive the Formula:
Surface Area of a Prism
Example Problems
1. Find the surface area of a right triangular prism with: a side length of 4cm, a base of 8 cm and a base height of 6cm.
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Area of a triangle= (b x h)/2
b= 8 cm h= 6 cm
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8 cm x 6 cm = 48 cm^2 /2
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One base has an area of 24 cm^2
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Area of a rectangle= b x h
b= side length= 4 cm h= base length= 8
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4 cm x 8 cm = 32cm^2
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2(base or triangle)+ 3(lateral face or rectangle)
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(2 x 24 cm2) + (3 x 32 cm2) = 144 cm^2
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The surface area of the right triangular prism is 144 cm^2
To find the surface area of a prism you have to draw a net of the shape.
From there you find the area of each shape and then add them together.
Generally it will be 2 base shapes and then several lateral faces.
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