Question

The dimensions for a square pyramid are shown in the figures. What is the lateral surface area of the figure?

Answer 1

Given:

A square pyramid that is split off.

where;

`\begin{gathered} base,b=8in \\ height,h=9in \end{gathered}`

The lateral surface area is the area of the lateral surface. It involves the area of the side surfaces without the top and bottom area.

Hence, for the square pyramid, we find the area of the four side triangles and ignore the square base.

Using the formula for the area of a triangle,

`A=(1)/(2)\text{bh}`

Thus, for four side triangles of the pyramid, the lateral surface area (L.S.A) is;

`\begin{gathered} LSA=4*(1)/(2)bh \\ LSA=2bh \\ LSA=2*8*9 \\ LSA=144in^2 \end{gathered}`

Therefore, the lateral surface area of the square pyramid is 144 square inches.