Anna is cutting a cereal box into small squares with a side length of 1 in. How many squares can she cut if the box is a rectangular prism with a length of 10 in., a width of 4 in., and a height of 12 in.?

1 answer

To find out how many 1 in. squares Anna can cut from the cereal box, we first need to calculate the total surface area of the rectangular prism.

The formula for the surface area \( S \) of a rectangular prism is given by:

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

Where:

  • \( l \) is the length of the prism,
  • \( w \) is the width of the prism,
  • \( h \) is the height of the prism.

For the cereal box:

  • \( l = 10 \) in,
  • \( w = 4 \) in,
  • \( h = 12 \) in.

Substituting these values into the formula:

\[ S = 2(10)(4) + 2(10)(12) + 2(4)(12) \]

Calculating each term:

  1. \( 2(10)(4) = 80 \)
  2. \( 2(10)(12) = 240 \)
  3. \( 2(4)(12) = 96 \)

Now, we sum these values to find the total surface area:

\[ S = 80 + 240 + 96 = 416 \text{ square inches} \]

Since each small square has an area of \( 1 \text{ in}^2 \), the number of 1 in. squares that can be cut from the surface area of the cereal box is equal to the total surface area:

\[ \text{Number of squares} = 416 \]

Therefore, the total number of 1 in. squares Anna can cut from the cereal box is

\[ \boxed{416} \]