Question

One advantage of the prismoidal formula is that you can use it to A. calculate surface area for cylindrical rings. B. estimate the surface area of edged non-prismoidal solids. C. determine volumes of prismoids and estimate volumes of edged non-prismoidal solids. D. calculate volume of spheres.

Answer 1

All the options are correct.

If we look at the formula of prismoidal, we can see that it contains, three areas = area of faces at top and bottom and area of midway section

Thus it can be used to calculate the a) calculate surface area for cylindrical rings And b) estimate the surface area of edged non-prismoidal solids.  

In the volume formula of prismoidal, the factor (depth/6) is multiplied by the three areas as mentioned above, this gives the volume of faces at top and bottom and midway section. Thus option C and D are also correct.

Answer 2

The prismoidal formula gives the volume of prismatoid. Prismatoid is a solid where all vertices lie on two parallel planes.It is not a universal formula for computing the volumes of solids. You can calculate precise volumes of all prismoids , and that is its advantage. so, the answer is A. Calculate surface area for cylindrical rings.