Hi there! For this week’s math lesson, I wanted to discuss how to find the surface area of a rectangular prism. As with any algebraic problem, we always start with a formula, and for surface area of a rectangular prism, we use this one:

SA = 2lw + 2lh +2wh

We keep in mind that SA stands for Surface Area, l stands for length, h stands for height, and w stands for width. This formula may look complicated, but if you think about it, all you need to find is the length, width, and height and it is relatively easy to find the surface area.

While we are working with a rectangular prism, the idea is really to find the surface area of this figure:

Now that we know the formula, we can try it out on an actual problem, like this one:

When we use the formula, we multiply length x width, length x height, and width x height and come up with a surface area of 1710 inches.

Now that you know how to find the surface area of a rectangular prism, test your skills with this problem. Check your answer on July 30, and come back for another question on August 1st.

Thanks for reading!

Gabe