To find the surface area of a composite figure, you need to add up the surface areas of all the individual shapes that make up the composite figure.
Here are the general steps you can follow to find the surface area of a composite figure:
Identify all the individual shapes that make up the composite figure.
Calculate the surface area of each individual shape using the appropriate formula. For example, to find the surface area of a rectangular prism, you would use the formula SA = 2lw + 2lh + 2wh, where l is the length, w is the width, and h is the height.
Add up the surface areas of all the individual shapes to get the total surface area of the composite figure.
If there are any overlapping surfaces between the individual shapes, subtract the surface area of the overlapping parts to avoid double counting.
Check your answer to make sure it makes sense and is reasonable given the dimensions of the composite figure.
Remember that the formulas you use will depend on the specific shapes that make up the composite figure. It can be helpful to draw a diagram of the figure and label all the dimensions before you start calculating the surface area.