Adam needs to make a tee-pee for his camping trip with the boy scouts. The circular bottom has to be 7 feet in diameter. The tee-pee slants at a height of 8 feet. How much tarp does he need to buy?

Answer 1

Lateral surface area gives us the surface area of three-dimensional objects without the area of the base. Since we are trying to find the amount of tarp we need the lateral surface area will give us the correct amount.

In word problems it is very important to understand the information you are given:

"7 feet in diameter" let's us know that we have a diameter of 7 feet which implies a radius of 3.5 feet.

"Slants at a height of 8ft" let's us know that the slant height if 8ft. The letter L is used to represent slant height. The formula for the surface area of a cone, using slant height, is SA=π*r*L.

S.A.=π(8)(3.5)≈87.92