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KidsMath
FindingSurfaceArea
Skillsneeded:
Multiplication
Addition
Subtraction
Division
Polygons
Inthissectionwe'llcoverthesurfaceareaoftwodimensionalobjectslikesquares,rectangles,andtriangles.The
surfaceareaisthetotalexposedareainsideagivenboundary.Wewriteareainunitssquared.
Hereisanexampleofsurfaceareausingasquare:
Thissquareis4unitslongoneachside.Thesurfaceareaisthenumberofsquareunitsthatfitintothesquare.As
showninthepicture,thesurfaceareaofthissquareis16totalsquareunits.
Witharectangleandsquarewecanalsogetthesurfaceareabymultiplyingwidth(W)xlength(L).Let'stry
thatandseeifwegetthesameanswer:
Area=WxL
Area=4x4
Area=16
Hey,that'sthesameanswer!
Note:iftheunitswerefeetforthisproblem,theanswerwouldbe16feetsquared.Notjust16feet.Whenwe
givetheanswerforsurfaceareaweusedsquaredtoindicatethatit'sasurfaceareaandnotjustastraightline.
Let'stakethemorecomplicatedexampleofthisfootballfield.Weusedthissameexampletodemonstratehowto
figuretheperimeter(seeperimeterforkids).Theperimeterofthisfootballfieldisthesumofallthesides100+
50+100+50=300yards.
Whatisthesurfaceareausingyardsfortheunits?Sincethisisarectanglewecanusetherectangleformula:
Area=WxL
Area=100yardsx50yards
Area=5000yardssquared
Findthesurfaceareaofthispolygon:
Thislooksconfusingatfirst,butwecanmakethiseasierbydividingitupintotworectangleslikethis:
Nowwecanaddthesurfaceareaofthetworectangles:
Thetoprectangleis2x5=10.
Thebottomrectangleis2x4=8
Thetotalsurfaceareais10+8=18.
Wecouldhavealsodivideditupintothesetwodifferentrectangles.Trythisandseeifyougetthesameanswer.
4x4=16
2x1=2
16+2=18.
Yep,sameanswer!
Figurethesurfaceareaofatriangle
Tofigureoutthesurfaceareaofatriangle,weneedtoknowthebaseandtheheight.Thebaseisanysidewe
choose.Theheightisthedistancefromthevertexoppositetothebaseata90degreeangletothebase.Okay,
thisisalittletricky,butitmakesmoresenselookingatthepicturebelow.Thebaseisbandtheheightish.
Oncewehavethebaseandheight,wecanusethefollowingformula:
Areaofatriangle=(bxh)
Example:
Findthesurfaceareaofthistriangle:
Area=(bxh)
Area=(20x10)
Area=(200)
Area=100
Inthecaseofarighttriangle,thebaseandheightarethetwosidesthatareperpendicularorat90degreesto
eachother.
MoreGeometrySubjects
Circle
Polygons
Quadrilaterals
Triangles
PythagoreanTheorem
Perimeter
Slope
SurfaceArea
VolumeofaBoxorCube
VolumeandSurfaceAreaofaSphere
VolumeandSurfaceAreaofaCylinder
VolumeandSurfaceAreaofaCone
Anglesglossary
FiguresandShapesglossary
BacktoKidsMath
BacktoKidsStudy
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