NAME ________________________________________ DATE ______________ PERIOD _____

Study Guide and Intervention

Volume of Rectangular Prisms
The volume of a solid is the measure of space occupied by it. It
is measured in cubic units such as cubic centimeters (cm3) or cubic
inches (in3). The volume of the figure at the right can be shown
using cubes.

3m
4m

The bottom layer,

or base, has 4 ? 3 ➝
or 12 cubes.
➝
} There are
two layers.

It takes 12 ? 2 or 24 cubes to fill the box. So, the volume of the box is 24 cubic meters.
A rectangular prism is a solid figure that has two parallel and congruent sides, or bases, that are
rectangles. To find the volume of a rectangular prism, multiply the area of the base and the height, or
find the product of the length ,, the width w, and the height h.
V 5 Bh or V 5 ,wh

Find the volume of the rectangular prism.

V 5 ,wh Volume of a rectangular prism

V55?6?8 Replace , with 5, w with 6, and h with 8.

8 in.
V 5 240 Multiply.
6 in.
The volume is 240 cubic inches.
5 in.

Find the volume of each rectangular prism. Round to the nearest

tenth if necessary.
1. 4m 2. 3.

3m
2 ft
9 cm 2.7 ft
7m
3 ft
7 cm
10 cm

© Glencoe/McGraw-Hill 674 Mathematics: Applications and Concepts, Course 2

 NAME ________________________________________ DATE ______________ PERIOD _____

Study Guide and Intervention

Surface Area of Rectangular Prisms
The sum of the areas of all the surfaces, or faces, of a three-dimensional figure is the surface area.
The surface area S of a rectangular prism with length ,, width w, and height h is found using the
following formula.
S 5 2,w 1 2,h 1 2wh

Find the surface area of the rectangular prism.

2m
You can use the net of the rectangular 4m
prism to find its surface area. There are 3m
three pairs of congruent faces in a back 2m 4m
2m
rectangular prism:
d top and bottom side bottom side 3m

d front and back

d two sides 2m front

Faces Area
3m top
top and bottom (4 ? 3) 1 (4 ? 3) 5 24
front and back (4 ? 2) 1 (4 ? 2) 5 16 4m
two sides (2 ? 3) 1 (2 ? 3) 5 12
Sum of the areas 24 1 16 1 12 5 52
Alternatively, replace , with 4, w with 3, and h with 2 in the formula for surface area.
S 5 2,w 1 2,h 1 2wh
52?4?312?4?212?3?2 Follow order of operations.
5 24 1 16 1 12
5 52
So, the surface area of the rectangular prism is 52 square meters.

Find the surface area of each rectangular prism.

1. 2. 3.

9 ft
10 in.
3 cm 2 in.
7 cm
8 in.
3 cm

7 ft
5 ft

© Glencoe/McGraw-Hill 684 Mathematics: Applications and Concepts, Course 2