Question

The Luxor Hotel, in Las Vegas, is a square pyramid with lateral faces consisting of black, glass mirrored panes. The building is 646 feet wide at the base and 350 feet high. How much glass was needed to cover the pyramid?

Answer 1

Easiest way to get the surface area of the lateral square pyramid is by using the formula:

$A_{L} = a \sqrt{ a^{2}+4 h^{2} }$
a = Base edge = 646 ft
h = Height = 350 ft

Using the formula:
$A_{L} = 646 \sqrt{ 646^{2}+4 350^{2} }$
[tex]A_{L} = 6.15335×10^{5} square feet
[tex]A_{L} = 615335 square feet