Question

A square pyramid has a base with a side length of 7.5 feet and lateral faces with heights of 16 feet. Write an expression that can be used to find the surface area, in square feet, of the square pyramid.
Please provide an expression, not just the surface area please :)

Answer 1

Check the picture below.

so the surface area of the pyramid will be the sum of the areas of the base and the four triangular faces.

$\stackrel{\textit{\Large Areas}}{\stackrel{\textit{4 triangular faces}}{4\left[ \cfrac{1}{2}(7.5)(16) \right]}~~ + ~~\stackrel{\textit{rectangular base}}{(7.5)(7.5)}}\implies 240~~ + ~~56.25\implies 296.25~ft^2$