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Mathematics 6 Online
OpenStudy (anonymous):

will give medal and fan!(:

OpenStudy (anonymous):

OpenStudy (whpalmer4):

The surface area of the prism is the area of the 2 ends (triangles), the bottom, the back edge, and the sloping face. The area of a triangle is given by \[A=\frac{1}2bh\] and the area of a rectangle (all the other sides) is given by \[A=lw\] Look at your diagram, spot the dimensions of the various sides, compute their areas, and add them up.

OpenStudy (anonymous):

Oh! I got 24?

OpenStudy (whpalmer4):

For the remaining edge of the triangle (the hypotenuse) you can use the Pythagorean theorem, \(a^2+b^c=c^2\) — the sides you know are \(a\) and \(b\).

OpenStudy (whpalmer4):

That seems improbably low, given that the thing is 19 long!

OpenStudy (whpalmer4):

Let's work through it. The triangle has sides 6 and 8, and we need to find the hypotenuse. What do you get for that?

OpenStudy (anonymous):

64

OpenStudy (whpalmer4):

Nope. \[a = 6, a^2 = ?\]

OpenStudy (anonymous):

36

OpenStudy (whpalmer4):

Right! \[b = 8, b^2=?\]

OpenStudy (anonymous):

36 and 64

OpenStudy (whpalmer4):

Right. Add those together and you get?

OpenStudy (anonymous):

100

OpenStudy (anonymous):

@whpalmer4 ?

OpenStudy (anonymous):

@whpalmer4

OpenStudy (whpalmer4):

Sorry, my web browser is misbehaving... Yes, 100 is correct. What is the square root of 100? That is the length of the side of the triangle we don't yet know.

OpenStudy (anonymous):

it's alright. 10

OpenStudy (whpalmer4):

Okay, can you find the area of the triangle for me?

OpenStudy (anonymous):

how do i do that

OpenStudy (whpalmer4):

I gave you the formula up above...

OpenStudy (anonymous):

i dont know :(

OpenStudy (anonymous):

were trying to find the surface area

OpenStudy (whpalmer4):

Right. The surface area is the sum of the area of all of the shapes that make up the surface. The formula for the area of a triangle was the first thing I gave you.

OpenStudy (whpalmer4):

Can you identify which sides we will use to find the area, if we need the base and the height?

OpenStudy (anonymous):

100 and 19?

OpenStudy (anonymous):

@whpalmer4

OpenStudy (whpalmer4):

No, 100 isn't the length of a side of the triangle. Remember, no side of a triangle can be greater than the sum of the other two sides!

OpenStudy (whpalmer4):

10 is the length of the hypotenuse...

OpenStudy (whpalmer4):

|dw:1360958810844:dw|

OpenStudy (whpalmer4):

Which one is the height, and which one is the base?

OpenStudy (whpalmer4):

The height is always at right angles to the base...

OpenStudy (anonymous):

6 and 8??

OpenStudy (whpalmer4):

Right! So what is the area of the triangle that makes up the end of the prism?

OpenStudy (anonymous):

14 ?

OpenStudy (whpalmer4):

How did you arrive at that result?

OpenStudy (anonymous):

@whpalmer4 cause i added 6 and 8?

OpenStudy (whpalmer4):

The formula is \[A = \frac{1}{2}bh\]Why did you add \(b+h\)?

OpenStudy (whpalmer4):

You need to multiply them, and then divide by 2. Or you could save a step later and skip the dividing by 2, because we have 2 of those triangles!

OpenStudy (anonymous):

okay so when i multiple them i get 48 then so i just divide by 2?

OpenStudy (whpalmer4):

Right. The area of each triangle is 24. Now let's find the area of bottom of the prism. Looking at my diagram, can you tell me the length and width? |dw:1360960081627:dw|

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