Rectangular Prisms are made up of 6 6 different rectangles. When faced with an exercise or exam that asks you to calculate the surface area of a rectangular Prism, use the formula below.

The formula: how to calculate the area of a rectangular prism (rectangular orthohedron)?

S=2×(Width×Length+Height×Width+Height×Length) S=2 \times (Width \times Length+ Height \times Width + Height\times Length)

S= surface area

how to calculate the area of a rectangular prism (rectangular orthohedron)

Suggested Topics to Practice in Advance

  1. Parts of a Rectangular Prism
  2. Cuboids
  3. How to calculate the volume of a rectangular prism (orthohedron)

Practice Surface Area of a Cuboid

Examples with solutions for Surface Area of a Cuboid

Exercise #1

Look at the cuboid below.

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What is the surface area of the cuboid?

Video Solution

Step-by-Step Solution

Let's see what rectangles we have:

8*5

8*12

5*12

Let's review the formula for the surface area of a rectangular prism:

(length X width + length X height + width X height) * 2

Now let's substitute all this into the exercise:

(8*5+12*8+12*5)*2=
(40+96+60)*2=
196*2= 392

This is the solution!
 

Answer

392 cm²

Exercise #2

A cuboid is shown below:

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What is the surface area of the cuboid?

Video Solution

Step-by-Step Solution

Remember that the formula for the surface area of a cuboid is:

(length X width + length X height + width X height) 2

 

We input the known data into the formula:

2*(3*2+2*5+3*5)

2*(6+10+15)

2*31 = 62

Answer

62

Exercise #3

Look at the the cuboid below.

What is its surface area?

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Video Solution

Step-by-Step Solution

First, we recall the formula for the surface area of a cuboid:

(width*length + height*width + height*length) *2

 

As in the cuboid the opposite faces are equal to each other, the given data is sufficient to arrive at a solution.

We replace the data in the formula:

 

(8*5+3*5+8*3) *2 =

(40+15+24) *2 =

79*2 = 

158

Answer

158

Exercise #4

Look at the cuboid below.

What is its surface area?

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Video Solution

Step-by-Step Solution

We identified that the faces are

3*3, 3*11, 11*3
As the opposite faces of an cuboid are equal, we know that for each face we find there is another face, therefore:

3*3, 3*11, 11*3

or

(3*3, 3*11, 11*3 ) *2

 

To find the surface area, we will have to add up all these areas, therefore:

(3*3+3*11+11*3 )*2

 

And this is actually the formula for the surface area!

We calculate:

(9+33+33)*2

(75)*2

150

Answer

150

Exercise #5

A cuboid has the dimensions shown in the diagram below.

Which rectangles form the cuboid?

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Video Solution

Step-by-Step Solution

Every cuboid is made up of rectangles. These rectangles are the faces of the cuboid.

As we know that in a rectangle the parallel faces are equal to each other, we can conclude that for each face found there will be two rectangles.

 

Let's first look at the face painted orange,

It has width and height, 5 and 3, so we already know that they are two rectangles of size 5x6

 

Now let's look at the side faces, they also have a height of 3, but their width is 6,

And then we understand that there are two more rectangles of 3x6

 

Now let's look at the top and bottom faces, we see that their dimensions are 5 and 6,

Therefore, there are two more rectangles that are size 5x6

 

That is, there are
2 rectangles 5X6

2 rectangles 3X5

2 rectangles 6X3

Answer

Two 5X6 rectangles

Two 3X5 rectangles

Two 6X3 rectangles

Exercise #6

Given the cuboid in the drawing, what is the appropriate unfolding?

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Step-by-Step Solution

Let's go through the options:

A - In this option, we can see that there are two flaps on the same side.

If we try to turn this net into a box, we'll get a box where on one side there are two faces one on top of the other while the other side is "open",
meaning this net cannot be turned into a complete and full box.

B - This net looks valid at first glance, but we need to verify that it matches the box we want to draw.

In the original box, we see that we have four flaps of size 9*4, and only two flaps of size 4*4,
if we look at the net we can see that the situation is reversed, there are four flaps of size 4*4 and two flaps of size 9*4,
therefore we can conclude that this net is not suitable.

C - This net at first glance looks valid, it has flaps on both sides so it will close into a box.

Additionally, it matches our drawing - it has four flaps of size 9*4 and two flaps of size 4*4.

Therefore, we can conclude that this net is indeed the correct net.

D - In this net we can see that there are two flaps on the same side, therefore this net will not succeed in becoming a box if we try to create it.

Answer

999444444444444444444

Exercise #7

Look at the cuboid of the figure.

Its surface area is 122 cm².

What is the width of the cuboid?

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Video Solution

Step-by-Step Solution

To solve the problem, let's recall the formula for calculating the surface area of a box:

(width*length + height*width + height*length) *2

Let's substitute the known values into the formula, and we'll denote the missing side as X:

2*(3*7+7*X+3*X) = 122

2*(21+7x+3x) = 122

2(21+10x) = 122

Let's expand the parentheses:

42+20x=122

Let's move terms:

20x=122-42

20x=80

Let's simplify:

x=4

And that's the solution!

Answer

4 cm

Exercise #8

Given that the volume of the cuboid is equal to 72 cm³

The length of the cuboid is equal to 6 cm and the height is equal to half the length.

Calculate the surface of the cuboid

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Video Solution

Step-by-Step Solution

The first step is to calculate the relevant data for all the components of the box.

The length of the box = 6

Given that the height of a cuboid is equal to half its length we are able to deduce the height of the box as follows : 6/2= 3

Hence the height = 3

In order to determine the width, we insert the known data into the formula for the volume of the box:

height*length*width = volume of the cuboid.

3*6*width = 72

18*width=72

We divide by 18:

Hence the width = 4

We are now able to return to the initial question regarding the surface of the cuboid.

Remember that the formula for the surface area is:

(height*length+height*width+length*width)*2

 

We insert the known data leaving us with the following result:

(3*6+4*3+4*6)*2=

(12+24+18)*2=

(54)*2=

108

Answer

108 cm²

Exercise #9

An unfolded cuboid is shown below.

What is the surface area of the cuboid?

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Video Solution

Step-by-Step Solution

To calculate the surface area of the rectangular prism, we will need to identify its three faces (each face appears twice):

1*3

1*8

3*8

 

The formula for the surface area of a rectangular prism is the sum of all the areas of the faces, that is:

We replace the data in the formula:

2*(1*3+1*8+3*8)=
2*(3+8+24) = 
2*35 = 

70

And this is the solution!

Answer

70

Exercise #10

Which dimensions may represent a cuboid?

Step-by-Step Solution

There is no limitation or rule regarding the dimensions that a cuboid can have.

Therefore the correct answer is D.

Answer

All of the above.

Exercise #11

What is the surface area of the cuboid in the figure?

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Video Solution

Answer

4940

Exercise #12

Calculate the surface area of the orthohedron below using the data in the diagram.

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Video Solution

Answer

62

Exercise #13

Given the cuboid whose square base is of size 25 cm²,

The height of the cuboid is 3 cm,

333S=25

What is the surface area of the cuboid?

Video Solution

Answer

110 cm²

Exercise #14

A cuboid has a surface area of 102.

Calculate X.

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Video Solution

Answer

3

Exercise #15

The surface area of the cuboid shown below is 147 cm².

What are the dimensions of the cuboid that are not labelled in the drawing?

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Video Solution

Answer

Impossible to calculate.

Topics learned in later sections

  1. Cubes