Question 850254
You are designing a container for oatmeal. Your design is a rectangular prism with a height of 12in, a width of 8in, and a depth of 3in. What is the surface area?


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<img src = "http://0.tqn.com/d/math/1/0/G/F/RectangularPrismr.gif">

(Image Source: <a href="http://math.about.com/od/formulas/ss/surfaceareavol_4.htm">http://math.about.com/od/formulas/ss/surfaceareavol_4.htm</a>)



In this case, 


L = 3
W = 8
H = 12



{{{SA = 2*(W*H + L*W + L*H)}}}



{{{SA = 2*(8*12 + 3*8 + 3*12)}}}



{{{SA = 2*(96 + 24 + 36)}}}



{{{SA = 2*(156)}}}



{{{SA = 312}}}



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The surface area is <font size=4 color="red">312 square inches</font>