Kendra F. answered • 01/04/17
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It helps to sketch 3-dimensional shapes when solving for surface area, volume, etc.
A right triangle prism is composed of 2 identical right triangles connected by a distance commonly referred to as the height of the prism. The legs of the prism are the sides of the right triangles. Sketching it out, one can see that the surface area is the sum of the areas of the two right triangles and three rectangles.
SA = 2*(1/2)(4)(8) + 4(12) + 8(12) + H(12)
H is the Hypotenuse of the right triangle which is found using the Pythagorean theorem.
(H)2 = (4)2 + (8)2
H = Sqrt(80) ≅ 8.94
A right triangle prism is composed of 2 identical right triangles connected by a distance commonly referred to as the height of the prism. The legs of the prism are the sides of the right triangles. Sketching it out, one can see that the surface area is the sum of the areas of the two right triangles and three rectangles.
SA = 2*(1/2)(4)(8) + 4(12) + 8(12) + H(12)
H is the Hypotenuse of the right triangle which is found using the Pythagorean theorem.
(H)2 = (4)2 + (8)2
H = Sqrt(80) ≅ 8.94
plug in and solve for Surface Area, SA.
Don't forget to round your answer at the end to the nearest whole number.
