A pyramid's surface is one base plus several triangle faces. So you need the area of a rectangle/square for the base, the area of a triangle (½ × base × height) for each side, and the skill to add several areas. Warm those up first.
Answer these 3, then press Show my path. No grade — this just points you to the right level.
1. Area of a square that is 4 on each side?
2. Area of a triangle with base 6 and height 4: ½ × 6 × 4?
3. A square pyramid has 1 square base and how many triangle faces?
A square pyramid has 1 square base and 4 triangle faces. Find the base area (side × side), find each triangle's area (½ × base × height), then add the base and all the triangles. Answer is in square units.
Your quick check picks one for you, but you can switch any time:
Level 0 Find a triangle's area one step at a time.
A. First: base × height = 4 × 6 = ___
4 × 6 = 24.
B. Now take half: half of 24 = ___
24 ÷ 2 = 12.
C. So the triangle area ½ × 4 × 6 = ___
4 × 6 = 24, then half is 12.
Level 1 Base plus triangles.
A. Area of a square base, side 5 (5 × 5) = ___
5 × 5 = 25.
B. Triangle area: ½ × 8 × 3 = ___
8 × 3 = 24, then half is 12.
C. Add the base and 4 triangles: 16 + 10 + 10 + 10 + 10 = ___
Four 10s = 40, then 40 + 16 = 56.
Level 2 Stretch: full pyramid surface area.
A. A square pyramid: base 6 × 6, four triangles each ½ × 6 × 5. What is the total surface area?
Base = 36. Each triangle = ½ × 6 × 5 = 15, four of them = 60. Total 36 + 60 = 96.
B. Four triangle faces each have area 9. What is their combined area? (square units)
4 × 9 = 36.
1. Area of a triangle: ½ × 10 × 4 = ___
10 × 4 = 40, then half is 20.
2. A square pyramid is made of which faces?
A square pyramid has 1 square base and 4 triangular sides.
You've practiced exactly what Lesson 10-5 uses. Time to dive in.
Start Lesson 10-5 →