Question

Christian collects model cars and planes. He has a display showcase of all of his collectors' items. Solve this real-world problem to find the surface area of the display showcase if it is the shape of a triangular prism with the following dimensions: h=9
inches, b=17
inches, s1=10
inches, s2=12
inches, s3=17
and l=10
inches.(1 point)
S.A.=
in.2

1 answer

To find the surface area (S.A.) of a triangular prism, we need to calculate the area of the two triangular bases and the three rectangular lateral faces.

  1. Calculate the area of the triangular base:

The formula for the area \(A\) of a triangle is:

\[ A = \frac{1}{2} \times \text{base} \times \text{height} \]

In this case, the base \(b = 17\) inches and the height \(h = 9\) inches. Therefore,

\[ A = \frac{1}{2} \times 17 \times 9 = \frac{153}{2} = 76.5 \text{ in}^2 \]

Since there are two triangular bases, the total area for the triangular bases is:

\[ \text{Area of the two bases} = 2 \times A = 2 \times 76.5 = 153 \text{ in}^2 \]

  1. Calculate the area of the rectangular faces:

The three rectangular faces have the following dimensions:

  • Face 1 (length \(l = 10\) inches, height = \(s1 = 10\) inches): \[ \text{Area} = l \times s1 = 10 \times 10 = 100 \text{ in}^2 \]

  • Face 2 (length \(l = 10\) inches, height = \(s2 = 12\) inches): \[ \text{Area} = l \times s2 = 10 \times 12 = 120 \text{ in}^2 \]

  • Face 3 (length \(l = 10\) inches, height = \(s3 = 17\) inches): \[ \text{Area} = l \times s3 = 10 \times 17 = 170 \text{ in}^2 \]

Now, adding these areas together gives us the area of the rectangular faces:

\[ \text{Area of the three rectangular faces} = 100 + 120 + 170 = 390 \text{ in}^2 \]

  1. Calculate the total surface area of the prism:

Now, we can add the area of the triangular bases and the area of the rectangular faces together:

\[ \text{Total Surface Area} = \text{Area of the bases} + \text{Area of the rectangular faces} = 153 + 390 = 543 \text{ in}^2 \]

Therefore, the surface area of the display showcase is:

\[ \text{S.A.} = 543 \text{ in}^2 \]