Use the net below to calculate the surface area of this rectangular prism.

Full solution

Q. Use the net below to calculate the surface area of this rectangular prism.

Identify dimensions: Identify the dimensions of the faces of the prism.
Calculate front/back area: Calculate the area of the front and back face: height times width. $\newline$ Let's say it's $5 \, \text{cm}$ by $3 \, \text{cm}$ . $\newline$ $\text{Area}_{\text{front/back}} = 2 \times (\text{height} \times \text{width}) = 2 \times (5 \, \text{cm} \times 3 \, \text{cm}) = 30 \, \text{cm}^2$ .
Calculate left/right area: Calculate the area of the left and right face: height times depth. $\newline$ Assuming it's $5 \, \text{cm}$ by $4 \, \text{cm}$ . $\newline$ $\text{Area}_{\text{left/right}} = 2 \times (\text{height} \times \text{depth}) = 2 \times (5 \, \text{cm} \times 4 \, \text{cm}) = 40 \, \text{cm}^2$ .
Calculate top/bottom area: Calculate the area of the top and bottom face: width times depth. $\newline$ If it's $3 \, \text{cm}$ by $4 \, \text{cm}$ . $\newline$ $\text{Area}_{\text{top\_bottom}} = 2 \times (\text{width} \times \text{depth}) = 2 \times (3 \, \text{cm} \times 4 \, \text{cm}) = 24 \, \text{cm}^2$ .
Add up total surface area: Add up the areas of all faces to get the total surface area. $\newline$ $\text{Surface\_area} = \text{Area\_front\_back} + \text{Area\_left\_right} + \text{Area\_top\_bottom} = 30 \, \text{cm}^2 + 40 \, \text{cm}^2 + 24 \, \text{cm}^2 = 94 \, \text{cm}^2$ .