Question

Determine whether the piece of paper can be used to wrap the rectangular prism exactly once without any gaps or overlaps.

Answer 1

No, because they do not have the same area.

Explanation:

For the piece of paper to cover once without overlap or gaps, it must have the same area as the the total surface area of the prism.

The total surface area of the rectangular prism is:
`2(3.5*2+3.5*1.5+2*1.5)=30(1)/(2)in^2`

The area of the rectangular sheet is:
`5* 8=40in^2`

Since the area of the piece of paper is more than the surface area of the rectangular prism there will be an overlap.