Jenny has found the total surface area and the lateral surface area of a prism, but she can’t remember which is which. She got answers of 144 in.2

Question

144

in.
2
and 304 in.2
304

in.
2
. How would you distinguish which answer is lateral surface area and which is total surface area?(1 point)
Responses

The lateral surface area is 304 in.2
304

in.
2
and the total surface area is 144 in.2
144

in.
2
. The greater area is the lateral surface area.
The lateral surface area is 304 in. squared and the total surface area is 144 in. squared . The greater area is the lateral surface area.

There is not enough information given to distinguish lateral surface area from total surface area.
There is not enough information given to distinguish lateral surface area from total surface area.

The two areas should be the same, so Jenny should recalculate.
The two areas should be the same, so Jenny should recalculate.

The lateral surface area is 144 in.2
144

in.
2
, and the total surface area is 304 in.2
304

in.
2
. The area that is less is the lateral surface area.

Answer 1

The correct response is:

The lateral surface area is 144 in², and the total surface area is 304 in². The area that is less is the lateral surface area.

This is because the total surface area of a prism includes both the lateral surface area (the area of the sides) and the area of the two bases. Since the total surface area is always larger than the lateral surface area (assuming the prism has a non-zero height), the greater area (304 in²) must be the total surface area, and the smaller area (144 in²) must be the lateral surface area.