how do i find surface area for a square pyramid? the base is 3ft each side and 6ft on the side going up. ive tried reading over my lessons so many times and I just cant figure out how to do it.

To find the surface area of a square pyramid, you need to use the formula SA = B + 1/2P(L + S), where B is the area of the base, P is the perimeter of the base, L is the slant length of the pyramid, and S is the length of the side of the pyramid.

In this case, the base is a square with sides of 3ft, so the area of the base is 9ft^2. The perimeter of the base is 12ft. The slant length of the pyramid is 6ft, and the length of the side of the pyramid is also 6ft.

Plugging these values into the formula, we get SA = 9 + 1/2(12)(6 + 6) = 9 + 36 = 45ft^2.

the base is square so its area is just 3^2 = 9

If by "on the side going up" you mean the slant height, then the lateral faces are just four triangles with a base of 3 and a height of 6, so their area is 4(1/2 * 3 * 6) = 36

This is what the bot calculated.

If by "on the side going up" you mean the length of the edge where the faces meet, then if you draw a side view, you can see that the height h of the pyramid can be found using
h^2 + (3/2 √2)^2 = 6^2
h^2 + 9/2 = 36
Then the slant height s can be found using
s^2 = (3/2)^2 + h^2 = (3/2)^2 + (36 - 9/2) = 33.75
s = √135/2
and the lateral area is 4 * 1/2 * 3 * √135/2 = 3√135

To find the surface area of a square pyramid, you need to calculate the areas of each individual surface and then add them together. Here's a step-by-step process:

Step 1: Identify the different surfaces of the pyramid. A square pyramid has a square base and four triangular faces.

Step 2: Find the area of the base. Since the base is a square, you can calculate its area by multiplying the length of one side by itself. In this case, the sides of the square base are each 3 feet, so the area of the base is 3 ft * 3 ft = 9 square feet.

Step 3: Calculate the area of each triangular face. To determine the area of a triangle, you'll need the base and height. In this case, the base is the side length of the base square (3 ft), and the height is the slant height of the pyramid (6 ft). The formula for the area of a triangle is (1/2) * base * height. So, for each triangular face, the area is (1/2) * 3 ft * 6 ft = 9 square feet.

Step 4: Determine the total surface area by adding up the areas of each surface. Since a square pyramid has one square base and four triangular faces, you'll have 1 base area + 4 triangular face areas. Therefore, the total surface area is 9 square feet (base area) + 4 * 9 square feet (4 triangular face areas) = 9 square feet + 36 square feet = 45 square feet.

So, the surface area of the square pyramid with a 3 feet square base and a 6 feet side going up is 45 square feet.

To find the surface area of a square pyramid, you need to calculate the area of each individual face of the pyramid and then add them together.

In your case, the base of the pyramid is a square with each side measuring 3 ft. To find the area of the base, you simply square the length of one side. So, the area of the square base is 3 ft × 3 ft = 9 ft².

Next, you need to find the area of the four triangular faces of the pyramid. Each triangular face has a base equal to the length of one side of the square base (3 ft) and a height equal to the slant height of the pyramid. In your case, the side going up measures 6 ft, so the slant height is 6 ft.

To find the area of each triangular face, you use the formula for the area of a triangle: Area = (1/2) × base × height. Substituting the values, the area of each triangular face is (1/2) × 3 ft × 6 ft = 9 ft².

Since there are four triangular faces, you need to multiply the area of one triangular face by 4. Therefore, the total surface area of the four triangular faces is 4 × 9 ft² = 36 ft².

To get the total surface area of the square pyramid, you simply add the area of the base (9 ft²) to the total area of the four triangular faces (36 ft²). Thus, the surface area of the square pyramid is 9 ft² + 36 ft² = 45 ft².

Therefore, the surface area of your square pyramid is 45 square feet.