Surface Area of Composite 3D Figures Practice

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Question
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The total length is 16 inches and width is 10 inches. The length of the removed portion from the bottom right is 12 inches. The shorter portion that is removed has the remaining length of 4 inches. The remaining width after removing the rectangular portion is 6 inches. The shorter portion that is removed has the remaining width of 4 inches.

Nikolai is making an L-shaped platform for his collection of action figures.

What is the surface area of the platform if it is 3 in. thick?

(1 point)
in.2

1 answer

To find the surface area of Nikolai's L-shaped platform, we need to break the shape down into a few simple parts.

  1. Calculate the full area of the larger rectangle:

    • Length = 16 inches
    • Width = 10 inches \[ \text{Area}_{\text{large}} = \text{length} \times \text{width} = 16 , \text{in.} \times 10 , \text{in.} = 160 , \text{in.}^2 \]
  2. Calculate the area of the removed rectangle:

    • The length of the removed portion = 12 inches
    • The width of the removed portion = 4 inches \[ \text{Area}_{\text{removed}} = \text{length} \times \text{width} = 12 , \text{in.} \times 4 , \text{in.} = 48 , \text{in.}^2 \]
  3. Calculate the area of the L-shaped platform:

    • The area of the L-shaped platform is the area of the larger rectangle minus the area of the removed rectangle. \[ \text{Area}{\text{L-shape}} = \text{Area}{\text{large}} - \text{Area}_{\text{removed}} = 160 , \text{in.}^2 - 48 , \text{in.}^2 = 112 , \text{in.}^2 \]
  4. Calculate the surface area of the 3D platform: Since the platform is 3 inches thick, we will consider both the top and the bottom surfaces, as well as the sides.

  • Top surface area: This is the area calculated above.

  • Bottom surface area: This is the same as the top surface area, so also \(112 , \text{in.}^2\).

  • Sides: The platform has a thickness of \(3\) inches, and we will have to calculate the area of the sides. The L-shaped platform has four sides:

    • Two longer sides (length 16 inches): \[ \text{Area}_{\text{side1}} = \text{length} \times \text{thickness} \times 2 = 3 , \text{in.} \times 16 , \text{in.} \times 2 = 96 , \text{in.}^2 \]
    • Two shorter sides (which are 10 inches wide on one side and 4 inches on the side with the removed portion): \[ \text{Area}_{\text{side2}} = \text{thickness} \times \text{width1} + \text{thickness} \times \text{width2} = (3 \times 10) + (3 \times 4) = 30 + 12 = 42 , \text{in.}^2 \]
  1. Add all the surface areas together: \[ \text{Total Surface Area} = \text{Area}{\text{top}} + \text{Area}{\text{bottom}} + \text{Area}_{\text{sides}} = 112 + 112 + (96 + 42) = 112 + 112 + 138 = 362 , \text{in.}^2 \]

Therefore, the surface area of the platform is \(362 , \text{in.}^2\).