Surface Area of a Cuboid Formula

A cuboid has 2 kinds of surface area. The surface area of a cuboid is calculated based on what type of surface area is required. The formulas for both types of surface areas are different. They are:

  1. Total surface area of a cuboid
  2. Lateral surface area of a cuboid

The total surface area of a cuboid is the area of all 6 sides of the cuboid. However, the lateral surface area of a cuboid is the area of only 4 sides (base and top excluded). Imagine there is a room in the shape of a cuboid; if only the walls of the room (excluding the ceiling) require painting, then the lateral surface area of the room will be taken into account for the paint used, and the total surface area of the room is the sum of the 4 walls + ceiling + floor. Both the total surface area and lateral surface area of a cuboid are calculated in terms of length (l), breadth(b), and height(h). The formulas are:

Lateral surface area of a cuboid = 2h(l + b) square units

Total surface area of a cuboid = 2 (lb + bh + lh) square units

Note: If the surface area is asked without giving any information or specification, then the total surface area of the cuboid is calculated.

Surface Area of Cuboid

The surface area of a cuboid is the total space occupied by all its surfaces/sides. In geometry, a three-dimensional shape having six rectangular faces is called a cuboid. A cuboid is also known as a regular hexahedron and has six rectangular faces, eight vertices, and twelve edges with congruent, opposite faces. It is a three-dimensional form of a rectangle with four lateral faces and two faces at the top and bottom. Some examples of cuboids that we regularly see are bricks, geometric boxes, shoe boxes, packaging boxes, etc. Let’s learn in detail about the surface area of a cuboid, along with examples.

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