Jenny wants to wrap a present in a box for her mother. The box measures 10 cm wide, 4 cm high, and 17 cm long. How much wrapping paper will Jenny need to wrap the present?

1 answer

To determine how much wrapping paper Jenny will need to wrap the box, we need to calculate the surface area of the box. The box is a rectangular prism, and its surface area \( S \) can be calculated using the formula:

\[ S = 2lw + 2lh + 2wh \]

where \( l \) is the length, \( w \) is the width, and \( h \) is the height of the box.

Given the dimensions of the box:

  • Length \( l = 17 \) cm
  • Width \( w = 10 \) cm
  • Height \( h = 4 \) cm

Substituting these values into the surface area formula:

\[ S = 2(17 \times 10) + 2(17 \times 4) + 2(10 \times 4) \]

Calculating each term step by step:

  1. Calculate \( 17 \times 10 \): \[ 17 \times 10 = 170 \]

  2. Calculate \( 17 \times 4 \): \[ 17 \times 4 = 68 \]

  3. Calculate \( 10 \times 4 \): \[ 10 \times 4 = 40 \]

Now substituting these values back into the surface area formula:

\[ S = 2(170) + 2(68) + 2(40) \]

Calculating each part:

  • \( 2 \times 170 = 340 \)
  • \( 2 \times 68 = 136 \)
  • \( 2 \times 40 = 80 \)

Now, adding these values together:

\[ S = 340 + 136 + 80 \]

Calculating the total:

\[ S = 556 \]

Thus, the total surface area of the box is \( 556 \) cm².

Therefore, Jenny will need 556 cm² of wrapping paper to wrap the present.