Final answer:
To solve a real-world problem involving the surface area of a right rectangular prism, such as finding how much paint is needed for a storage shed, one can calculate the area of each face of the prism and add them up.
Step-by-step explanation:
Let's imagine that a school is building a new storage shed on the playground that is a right rectangular prism. The principal wants to know how much paint is needed to cover the entire exterior of the shed. Knowing the shed's dimensions—length, width, and height—we can calculate the surface area to determine how much paint to buy.
To find the surface area of the right rectangular prism, we take the area of each of the two length x height rectangles, the two width x height rectangles, and the two length x width rectangles (which are the top and bottom faces), and then we sum them all up. This approach highlights that forgetting the exact formulas is not fatal: one can build out from more familiar settings to arrive at the solution.
For example, if the shed measures 4 meters in length, 3 meters in width, and 2 meters in height, the total surface area would be calculated as follows:
- Area of length x height rectangles: 2(4m x 2m) = 16m²
- Area of width x height rectangles: 2(3m x 2m) = 12m²
- Area of the top and bottom faces (length x width): 2(4m x 3m) = 24m²
The total surface area is therefore 16m² + 12m² + 24m² = 52m². Consequently, to purchase the right amount of paint, one would need enough to cover 52m².