How to remove the area from a prism
The prisms are geometric figures with polygonal faces and bases, which can be regular or irregular. To calculate the area of the prisms, you will first need to calculate its perimeter, that is, the sum of its sides. If you need to calculate the lateral or total area of one of these polyhedra, be sure to consult this article to learn how to get the area out of a prism.
Steps to follow:one
Let's suppose that we have a straight prism built in cardboard and we open it up to extend it completely. The figure that we obtain when opening the prism is called prism development . Observe it and you will see that it is formed by the lateral faces and the bases of the prism.
When developing the prism, its lateral faces are transformed into the rectangle ABCD . Therefore, the lateral area of the prism is equal to the area of the rectangle ABCD.
Rectangle base = 6 cm + 2 cm + 6 cm + 2 cm = 16 cm.
Height of the rectangle = 10 cm.
Then:
Lateral area of the prism = 16 cm x 10 cm = 160 cm².
Note that 6 cm + 2 cm + 6 cm + 2 cm = 16 cm is the perimeter of the base of the prism and that 10 cm is the height of the prism.
two
From the previous section, we can affirm that:
Prism side area = perimeter of the base x height
This formula allows you to calculate the lateral area of any prism. To find out the total area, we must add the area of the bases to the lateral area. Since the bases are the same we can say:
Total area of the prism = lateral area + 2 x base area.
3
We are going to calculate the lateral area and the total area of the prism whose dimensions are indicated in the drawing. The area of the base is in this case:
6 cm x 2 cm = 12 cm²
Thus:
Total area of the prism = 160 cm² + 2 x 12 cm² = 184 cm²
