What is the surface area (in square meters) of a box with length of 3 m, width of 4 m and a height of 2 m? Round to the nearest whole number.

1 answer

To find the surface area of a box (rectangular prism), you can use the formula:

\[ \text{Surface Area} = 2lw + 2lh + 2wh \]

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

Given:

  • Length (\( l \)) = 3 m
  • Width (\( w \)) = 4 m
  • Height (\( h \)) = 2 m

Now substituting the values into the formula:

\[ \text{Surface Area} = 2(3)(4) + 2(3)(2) + 2(4)(2) \]

Calculating each term:

  1. \( 2(3)(4) = 24 \)
  2. \( 2(3)(2) = 12 \)
  3. \( 2(4)(2) = 16 \)

Now, add these values together:

\[ \text{Surface Area} = 24 + 12 + 16 = 52 , \text{square meters} \]

So, the surface area of the box is \( \boxed{52} \) square meters.