Question

Use a net to find the surface area of the right triangular prism shown below: Three rectangles next to each other with a width of 7 feet. The first and second rectangles length are unknown, and the last is 10 feet long. There are two right triangles above and below the last rectangle. One is labeled with a base of 6 feet and a height of 8 feet. 198 square feet 216 square feet 270 square feet 280 square feet

Answer 1

Area tells us the size of a shape or figure. It tells us the size of squares, rectangles, circles, triangles, other polygons, or any enclosed figure.

In the real world it tells us the size of pieces of paper, computer screens, rooms in houses, baseball fields, towns, cities, countries, and so on. Knowing the area can be very important. Think of getting a new carpet fitted in a room in your home. Knowing the area of the room will help make sure that the carpet you buy is big enough without having too much left over.

Calculating Area

Area is measured in squares (or square units).

How many squares are in this rectangle?

example of rectangle with area of 15 square units

We can count the squares or we can take the length and width and use multiplication. The rectangle above has an area of 15 square units.