12-3 Surface Area of Prisms

Key Words
• “Lateral” is a fancy word for “side”
LATERAL FACES
• Lateral Surface Area: the areas of all the
lateral surfaces added up.

(Lateral Area) = ha + hb + hc
= h(a + b + c)
=h(Perimeter of the Base)
• Surface area of a prism: just add the
lateral area to the areas of the two bases.
(Total Surface Area of Prism)= (Lateral Area) + (Area of Bases)

Let’s Practice!