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Calculations - Surface Area

Biology: Cambridge International A Level, topic 4.2.8

Surface Area

Don't think we forgot about surface area formulae!!

Cube

Cube

  • A cube of side length 3cm has 6 faces each with area 9cm2 so the total surface area is 54cm2.
  • Drawing a net can be helpful for calculating the total area.
Sphere

Sphere

  • The surface area of a sphere is:
  • Area = 4πr2
Cylinder

Cylinder

  • The surface area of a cylinder is: Area = 2πrh + 2πr2
  • The length of the rectangular surface is the circumference of the base.
Rectangular solid

Rectangular solid

  • The surface of a rectangular solid is: Area = 2lh + 2lw + 2w
  • Where l is length, h is height, w is width.

Test yourself on Calculations - Surface Area

  • What is the formula for the surface area of a sphere?

  • What is the formula for the surface area of a cylinder?

Practise this topic for free