Volume or surface area

Question

How much gift wrap is needed to cover a box which measures 3 feet by 2 feet by 3 feet?

Answer 1

If you are covering the outside of something, it is AREA. If you want to know how much the inside of something can hold, that is volume. We need AREA.

Surface area is the area of all of the surfaces. With a box we have

2 same size front/back so 2 * (3 x 3) = 18

2 same size left/right so 2 * (3 x 2) = 12

2 same size top/bottom so 2 * (3 x 3) = 18

Add these all up, and the surface area is 48 square feet.