This is the Surface Area of a Rectangular Prism Calculator, where you may quickly and conveniently learn all you need to understand about your prism. It is one of the basic things to learn if you are studying or interested in math. For example, you are constructing a pool in your backyard and need to know how many tiles you require?
Maybe, you were wondering how to solve the surface area of a rectangular prism or what the lateral surface area of a rectangular prism is in the first place? If that is the case, then this is the right place for you.
While here, check out some of our calculators, if you need some help in your everyday life or with your math homework, such as: Cube Calculator, Volume Calculator, Quotient Calculator, Square Root Calculator, Root Calculator and so much more we share in our database. As for geometry tools, make sure to see our geometry related posts, such as Polygon Calculator, Parallel Line, or Golden Rectangle Calculator.
Rectangular Prism
Rectangular prism is a six-faced three-dimensional form with all sides (top, bottom, and lateral sides) rectangles and all opposite faces congruent. A rectangular prism has a surface area and volume like other three-dimensional shapes. This prism is also known as a cuboid (cube). Learn more about its volume with this Volume of a Rectangular Prism Calculator.
How to Find the Surface Area of a Rectangular Prism?
A rectangular prism’s surface area is expressed as the total region or area covered by all of the faces of the prism. A three-dimensional shape is a rectangular prism. It has six sides, each of which is rectangular. As a result, the bases of this prism must be rectangles.
In order to compute the surface area of a rectangular prism, all we have to do is add the areas of the prism’s faces. There are two sorts of areas:
- Lateral Surface Area
- Total Surface Area
Determining the total area of all six faces can be used to compute the total surface area of a rectangular prism. The formula for calculating a surface area is as follows.
Formula
A rectangular prism’s total surface area (TSA) is equal to:
TSA = 2 \times (l b + bh + lh)
where:
l = prism’s length
b = prism’s width
h = prism’s height
Lateral Surface Area of a Rectangular Prism
The total of all the lateral faces of a rectangular prism, i.e. the total area excluding the bases, can be used to compute the lateral surface area. The formula for calculating a rectangular prism’s surface area is as follows.
Formula
We can calculate rectangular prism’s lateral surface area (LSA) using this equation:
LSA = 2 \times (l + b) \times h
where:
l = length,
b = width, and
h = height.
Surface Area of a Rectangular Prism Calculator – How to Use?
Please follow the steps below to calculate the surface area of a rectangular prism:
- In the provided input box, enter the rectangular prism’s length, breadth, and height.
- To calculate the surface area of a rectangular prism, click the “Calculate” button.
- To obtain the surface area for different lengths, breadths, and heights of the rectangular prism, click the “Reset” button.
Surface Area of a Rectangular Prism Calculator – Example
Let’s imagine you are tiling a swimming pool (or some kind of box) and want to know how much tile you will need. If the pool has a rectangle shape and a flat bottom, we are dealing with a rectangular prism.
Assume the pool measures 6 feet long, 4 feet wide, and is 3 feet deep. Let’s try to put the numbers in terms of the notation we used earlier now that we have them.
To begin, the length and width of our pool’s base, which in our case are 6 ft and 4 ft, respectively, are the sides of the pool’s base. We can put these quantities in the calculator above and set length = 6 ft, width = 4 ft, because we’re using l and w as the base edges.
The height of our pool and the number h in the calculator are all we have left. And that is basically what we should do right now: set h = 5 ft, which is the pool’s depth or the prism’s height.
P = 2 \times l \times w + 2 \times l \times h + 2 \times w \times h
= 2 \times 6 ft \times 4 ft + 2 \times 6 ft \times 3 ft + 2 \times 4 ft \times 3 ft = 108 ft²
FAQ
What is surface area?
The quantity of space that covers the outside of a three-dimensional form is called the surface area.
What is lateral surface area?
Lateral surface area is the overall area of a three-dimensional object’s surface, excluding the bases.
What is a rectangular prism?
A rectangular prism is a six-sided three-dimensional structure with rectangles on all sides (top, bottom, and lateral) and congruent opposing faces.
What is the surface area of a rectangular prism?
The entire region or area covered by all of the faces of the prism is defined as the surface area of a rectangular prism.
