Answer:
The surface area would increase by a factor of 16.
Or you could also say:
Quadrupling the dimensions makes the surface area 16 times the original surface area.
Explanation:
The surface area of a rectangular prism is calculated by adding the areas of all six faces. The formula for the surface area of a rectangular prism is 2lw + 2lh + 2wh, where l is the length, w is the width, and h is the height.
In this case, the surface area of the original rectangular prism with dimensions 3 ft by 6 ft by 5 ft would be: 2(3)(6) + 2(3)(5) + 2(6)(5) = 36 + 30 + 60 = 126 square feet.
If the dimensions of the box were quadrupled, the new dimensions would be 12 ft by 24 ft by 20 ft. The new surface area would be: 2(12)(24) + 2(12)(20) + 2(24)(20) = 576 + 480 + 960 = 2016 square feet.
So, if the dimensions of the box were quadrupled, the surface area would increase from 126 square feet to 2016 square feet. This represents an increase in surface area by a factor of 16.