Now, add the area of the 2 bases, and the area of the long rectangle to find the surface area of the prism. You can use the calculator to help you solve.

Rectangular prism with the base measuring 3 units by 5 units and the height of the prism measuring 4 units.
Area of one base = 15 square units
Area of the long rectangle = 64 square units
Surface area of the prism =
square units

1 answer

To find the surface area of a rectangular prism, you can follow these steps:

  1. Calculate the area of the two bases:
    Area of one base = 15 square units
    Since there are two bases:
    Area of both bases = \(2 \times 15 = 30\) square units

  2. Add the area of the long rectangle:
    Area of the long rectangle = 64 square units

  3. Calculate the surface area of the prism:
    Surface area = Area of both bases + Area of the long rectangles
    Since the rectangular prism has 4 long rectangles (two lengths and two widths), the total area from rectangles is:
    Area of long rectangles = \(2 \cdot (length \times height) + 2 \cdot (width \times height)\)
    = \(2 \cdot (5 \times 4) + 2 \cdot (3 \times 4) = 40 + 24 = 64\) square units

  4. Adding these areas together:
    Surface area = Area of both bases + Area of the long rectangles
    Surface area = \(30 + 64 = 94\) square units

Therefore, the surface area of the prism is 94 square units.