Mathematics Knowledge
Surface Area
Yesterday I presented a question on surface area.
If a cube has a surface area of 54, what is the measure of one side?
Surface area is one of the many formulas that I remind my students to learn for the ASVAB. Mathematics Knowledge is the section of the test that involves learning formulas for geometry. I remind my students of the importance of knowing how to find perimeter, circumference, area, surface area, and volume. Knowing the formulas makes a big difference in the score on the Mathematics Knowledge section of the test. Today’s question asks about the surface area of a cube. A cube is a square box. All six sides have the same dimensions.
Do you know the formula for the surface area of a cube?
Surface area of a cube = 6 x side x side = 6s2
The total surface area is 54, and the formula is 6s2.
Next step is to divide by 6 to figure out what s2 equals.
54 divided by 6 = 9
s2 = 9
Take the square root of 9 to figure out the measure of one side of the cube.
The square root of 9 is 3.
One side of the cube measures 3.
Did you know how to solve this problem?
