CHAPTER 5: SURFACE AREA PART I

Lesson 2
Surface Area of Prisms

When someone says that her house is 1200 square feet, what does that mean?
What is included in that measurement? What is not included in that measurement?
Generally, when we talk about the square footage
of a house, we are talking only about the floors
above ground. Someone can live in a 1200 square
foot house with a basement and have nearly 2400
square feet of space to live in! The 1200 square
feet does not take into account space taken up by
walls, stairs, or closets.

Depending on how the house is designed, 1200 square feet

can be a lot of space or hardly enough! Before someone
brags or complains about the size of his house, be sure to
clarify how that area was determined!

THE GOAL
You should expect to spend approximately 1 hours
on this lesson. By the end of this lesson, you will be
able to
determine area of 2-D shapes
explain the similarities and differences between
area and surface area
draw nets to describe surface area of prisms
determine surface area of prisms
explain how dimensional changes affect
surface area of a prism

To complete this activity do one of the following,

By making a net of a cube, we construct a shape with six identical squares
connected along their sides.

This shape is called a hexomino. Laying these six squares in various patterns but
still connected along at least one side can result in 35 possible patterns. Here are a
few examples:

C.
B.
A.

1. Which of the hexominos, A, B, and C, can be folded to form a closed cube?

2. Make at least five more hexominos.
3. Circle those of your hexominos that will result in closed cubes.
4. What features do you notice about the hexominos that result in closed cubes?
5. Post at least one of your new hexominos on the Math 20-3 discussion board
online or share them with your friends, family, or teacher. As a challenge, try
to find as many of the possible 35 hexominos as you can!

Area is not a new concept to you, I hope! During your career as a math student,
you have discussed area and surface area numerous times. Rather than spend a

lot of time looking at where the formulas for area come from, follow the review of
the formulas and get working with them! As you review the formulas, be sure to put
them into your formula booklet for handy access later.
area: the amount of 2-D space taken up by an object
Area of a square:
Put these shapes and formulas into your formula booklet under
Chapter 5, General Area Formulas.

Area of a rectangle:

Area of a triangle:

Area of a parallelogram:

Area of a trapezoid:

Area of a circle:

What is the difference between area and surface area? Both have the same unit
possibilities. They both describe 2-D space. The main difference is that area refers
generally to a 2-D shape and surface area is the area of the outer layer of a 3-D
object. The basic area formulas above are needed to find the surface area of a 3-D
object. A key to finding surface area is unwrapping the 3-D object into what are
called nets.
surface area: the area required to cover a 3-D object
net: a 2-D pattern that can be folded to form a 3-D object
To remind yourself of what a net looks like, imagine cutting open a cardboard box
and looking at the shape produced. Edges that were once connected share the
same dimensions.

Online Applet to show you 3D images of shapes and their nets

https://www.learner.org/interactives/geometry/3d_prisms.html

Are the memories flooding back from Math 10-3 yet? If we are to find the surface
area of a 3-D object, we use the net to determine the individual areas and then add
them all together. It is as simple as that! This lesson focuses on prisms. This unit
will also consider pyramids, cylinders, cones, spheres, and composite 3-D
objects.
prism: a 3-D object with two parallel and congruent (equal) polygon bases
connected by rectangular faces

pyramid: a 3-D object with a polygon base and triangular faces that meet at a

vertex (point)

cylinder: a 3-D object with two parallel, congruent (equal) bases that are circles

cone: a 3-D object with a circular base and a sloped surface that tapers to a tip

sphere: a 3-D round object in which each point on its surface is an equal distance
from the centre of the object, where this distance is called radius, r.

composite 3-D object: a 3-D object that is made of several 3-D shapes

Now that you have refreshed your memory with area formulas of 2-D shapes and
can draw nets, it is time to calculate surface area of prisms. Recall that in a prism,
two bases exactly the same shape are parallel to each other.
parallel lines: lines that never intersect and are always the same distance apart

As you saw in Example 2, surface area is very important in packaging and

shipping. Not only does the product that is packaged need to fit into specified
containers, but the packaging material itself costs money. The larger the surface
area of the object, the more packaging costs. If a package contains the same
amount of content (or volume) but has different dimensions, does it have the same
surface area? What happens to surface area when we change one dimension?
What happens to surface area when we change more than one dimension? Look at
these questions by working through an activity.

To complete this activity do one of the following,

Suppose you are part of a charity group that supplies toys to children in need in
your region. A local business has offered to donate boxed toys to your cause.
Each box is a cube with dimensions of 10 inches by 10 inches by 10 inches. To
ease your transport of the toys, you want to pack them in larger boxes with 30 toys
in each box. You already have a contact at a cardboard plant making shipping
boxes for $0.003125 per square inch.
1. List all the various dimensions of the shipping box into which you can pack 30
cubes. There should be five possibilities. Watch for dimensions that are the
same if you change the position of the shipping box. Record them in the
following table (the first one is done for you):
Dimensions of shipping box
Length
(in)
(1 box)
10
inches

Width
(in)
(30
boxes)
300
inches

Surface area (square inches)

Height
(in)
(1 box)
10
inches

SA = 2lw + 2wh + 2lh

SA = 2(10 in)(300 in) + 2(300 in)(10 in) +
2(10 in)(10 in)
SA = 12,200 in2

1. Determine the surface area of each of the shipping boxes. Complete the last
column. Note: Because you are finding all sides of a rectangular prism, you
can use the formula SA = 2lw + 2wh + 2lh.
2. According to your table, which shipping box requires the least material to
build?
3. Which shipping box requires the most material to build?

4. What do you notice about the effect of dimensions on surface area?

5. What is the cost of the cardboard for one shipping box that requires the least
material?
6. What is the total cost of the cardboard for one shipping box that requires the
most material?
7. Are any other considerations important to consider when shipping the boxes?

Concept Review
Review what you have learned before you practise on your own:
Surface area formulas of prisms
To find the surface area of a 3-D object, it is best to use a
_______________, which is like unwrapping a 3-D object.
After you have the net of a 3-D object, you can find the surface
area by
_______________________________________________.
Changes in dimensions and its effect on surface area
The closer the values of the dimensions, the __________ the
surface area is. The further apart the values of the dimensions are,
the __________ the surface area is.
Key terms
Area
surface area
net

 prism
pyramid
cylinder
cone
sphere
composite 3-d object
parallel line