Surface area of a prism is the total area of all its two congruent, parallel bases and its lateral faces, measured in square units. Learners determine it by interpreting a net or applying , where is the area of a base, its perimeter, and the prism length, including rectangular and other familiar right prisms; this distinguishes surface area from volume and supports later geometric and algebraic reasoning.
Surface area is the total area covering every outside face of a prism. It includes:
For a prism, use
where:
The answer is written in square units because we are finding area, not volume.
Example: Find the surface area of a rectangular prism with a base that is units by units and a prism length of units.
Step 1: Find the area of one base.
The base is a rectangle:
Step 2: Find the perimeter of the base.
Step 3: Substitute into the formula.
Step 4: Calculate.
The surface area of the prism is
The represents the two bases, and the represents the total area of the four lateral faces.
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