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Which of the following describes a valid method for calculating the surface area of a triangular prism?(1 point)

Responses

Decompose the triangular prism into three triangles and two rectangles. Find the sum of three times the area of one triangle and twice the area of one rectangle.
Decompose the triangular prism into three triangles and two rectangles. Find the sum of three times the area of one triangle and twice the area of one rectangle.

Decompose the triangular prism into two triangles and three rectangles. Find the sum of the area of one triangle and three times the area of one rectangle.
Decompose the triangular prism into two triangles and three rectangles. Find the sum of the area of one triangle and three times the area of one rectangle.

Decompose the triangular prism into two triangles and three rectangles. Find the sum of the area of all five shapes.
Decompose the triangular prism into two triangles and three rectangles. Find the sum of the area of all five shapes.

Decompose the triangular prism into three triangles and two rectangles. Find the sum of the area of all five shapes.
Decompose the triangular prism into three triangles and two rectangles. Find the sum of the area of all five shapes.

1 answer

To find the surface area of a triangular prism, you need to consider the components that make up its surface: the two triangular bases and the three rectangular faces. A valid approach would involve counting these shapes correctly.

A triangular prism has:

  • 2 triangular bases (each with its own area)
  • 3 rectangular sides (each corresponding to a side of the triangle)

For calculating the surface area, you would typically do the following:

  1. Calculate the area of the two triangular bases.
  2. Calculate the area of the three rectangular faces.
  3. Sum all these areas.

Based on the choices you provided, the correct response is:

Decompose the triangular prism into two triangles and three rectangles. Find the sum of the area of all five shapes.

This response correctly identifies the number of triangles and rectangles in a triangular prism and indicates that you need to sum the areas of all five shapes to obtain the total surface area.