What is Surface Area? Definition and Examples


The surface area is the total area of the outer surface of a solid figure.

For example, a rectangular prism has 6 faces. Here is how to find the surface area:

Find the area of each of the six faces

Add the areas of all the six faces

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Math words beginning with the letter s

Is the surface area equal to the area?

No! You can only find the area of a plane or a two-dimensional figure such as a triangle or rectangle. However, you can only find the surface area of a three-dimensional figure such as a pyramid or a cube.

How do you calculate the surface area?

There are usually some surface area formulas for three-dimensional figures that you can use. For example, to find the surface area of a cube where s is the length of one side, use the formula 6s2

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