Surface Area of Rectangular Prism Formula

There are two formulas that are used to calculate the area of a rectangular prism that are,

• Lateral Surface Area
• Total Surface Area

The image added below shows the rectangular prism and its net. Now let’s learn about both the surface area of the rectangular prism.

Lateral Surface Area of a Rectangular Prism

The lateral surface area of a right prism (LSA) is equal to the sum of the areas of its four lateral faces.

Lateral Surface Area of a Prism (LSA) = Sum of areas of four lateral faces.

So, the formula for calculating the lateral surface area of a right rectangular prism is given as follows:

Lateral Surface Area of a Rectangular Prism = 2h (l + b) square units

where,

• “l” is the length of the side of a base
• “b” is the breadth of the side of a base
• “h” is the height of the prism

Total Surface Area of a Rectangular Prism

The total surface area of a right rectangular prism is equal to the sum of the total areas of all its faces. 

Total Surface Area of a Prism (TSA) = LSA + 2 × Base Area

So, the formula for calculating the total surface area of a right rectangular prism is given as below,

TSA = 2(lb + bh + lh) square units

where,

• “l” is the length of the side of a base
• “b” is the breadth of the side of a base
• “h” is the height of the prism

Surface Area of a Rectangular Prism is the area covered by all the surfaces of the rectangular prism. A rectangular prism is a 3-D geometrical figure with four lateral faces with two congruent and parallel faces. A rectangular prism has a total of six faces where the opposite faces are identical, i.e., a rectangular prism has three pairs of identical faces. The dimensions of a rectangular prism are length, width, and height. It has a total of six faces, twelve edges, and eight vertices.

In this article, we will learn about the Surface Area of a Rectangular Prism (Right Rectangular Prism), the Lateral Surface Area of a (Right) Rectangular Prism, the Total Surface Area of a (Right) Rectangular Prism, and others in detail.