The first piece we need to know in order to solve this problem is how to calculate the surface area of a cube in terms of the length of an edge. A cube is composed of six identical square sides. The surface area of a square whose side has length x is
x ?

Question

The first piece we need to know in order to solve this problem is how to calculate the surface area of a cube in terms of the length of an edge. A cube is composed of six identical square sides. The surface area of a square whose side has length x is 
x ?

phi · Answer

the area of a rectangle is length times width

what do you think the area of a square is (where all the sides are equal) ?