Answer:
A) 236 ft²
B) 4 cans of paint
Explanation:
Part A
The given diagram (attached) shows the doghouse modelled as a rectangular prism with the following dimensions:
- width = 6 ft
- length = 8 ft
- height = 5 ft
The formula for the total surface area of a rectangular prism is:

where w is the width, l is the length, and h is the height.
To find the total surface area of the doghouse, substitute the given values of w, l and h into the formula:

Therefore, the total surface area of the doghouse is 236 ft².

Part B
As the bottom of the doghouse will not be painted, to find the total surface area to be painted, subtract the area of the base from the total surface area:

Therefore, the total surface area to be painted is 188 ft².
If one can of paint will cover 50 ft², to calculate how many cans of paint are needed to paint the doghouse, divide the total surface area to be painted by 50 ft², and round up to the nearest whole number:

Therefore, 4 cans of paint are needed to paint the doghouse.
Note: Rounding 3.76 to the nearest whole number means rounding up to 4. However, even if the number of paint cans needed was nearer to 3, e.g. 3.2, we would still need to round up to 4 cans, else we would not have enough paint.