Final answer:
To calculate the lateral area of a prism, you need to find the sum of the areas of all the lateral faces.
Step-by-step explanation:
To calculate the lateral area of a prism, you need to find the sum of the areas of all the lateral faces. The lateral area is not inclusive of the bases. Each lateral face is a rectangle, and the area of a rectangle is given by length multiplied by width.
Let's say the prism has n lateral faces with lengths l1, l2, ..., ln and widths w1, w2, ..., wn. The formula for the lateral area of the prism is:
Lateral Area = l1 * w1 + l2 * w2 + ... + ln * wn