A rectangular prism can have two types of areas: To calculate the surface area of a rectangular prism, we need to simply find the sum of the areas of the faces of the prism. Surface Area of Rectangular Prism Formula Let us see the basic formulas to calculate the total surface area and lateral surface area of a rectangular prism in the next section. In the right rectangular prism, bases are perpendicular to each other whereas, in an oblique rectangular prism, the bases are not aligned one above the other. This total area of the six surfaces is called the surface area of a rectangular prism.Ī rectangular prism can be classified as a right rectangular prism or an oblique rectangular prism.

First, you will need to know the sum of the areas of the six surfaces of the box (four lateral side surfaces, top surface, and bottom surface). You need to calculate the amount of wrapping paper that will be needed to cover it. For example, we can relate the surface area of a rectangular prism with the surfaces of the objects given below: a book, cuboid-shaped aquarium, box, etc.įor example, let's say there is a box that needs to be gift-wrapped. Therefore, both the bases of a rectangular prism must also be rectangles.

It has six faces, and all the faces are rectangular-shaped. A rectangular prism is a three-dimensional shape.

The total region or area covered by all the faces of a rectangular prism is defined as the surface area of a rectangular prism.

Surface area formula rectangle