surface area unit test

calculate the surface area of the square pyramid

1 answer

To calculate the surface area of a square pyramid, you need to add together the area of the base (a square) and the area of the four triangular faces.

Let's say the base of the square pyramid has side length "s" and the slant height of each triangular face is "h."

The formula to calculate the surface area of a square pyramid is:

Surface Area = Base Area + 4 * Triangle Area

1. Base Area:
The area of the square base can be calculated as:
Base Area = s^2

2. Triangle Area:
The area of each triangular face can be calculated as:
Triangle Area = 0.5 * base * height
Since the base of each triangle is the side length of the square base and the height is the slant height "h," we have:
Triangle Area = 0.5 * s * h

3. Plug these values into the formula for surface area:
Surface Area = s^2 + 4 * (0.5 * s * h)
Surface Area = s^2 + 2 * s * h

So, the surface area of a square pyramid is given by the formula:
Surface Area = s^2 + 2 * s * h