Sara and Tomas are working on their display for the science fair. The sketch of their square-based pyramid is shown below. They will make the model out of cardboard and cover the whole structure with aluminum foil. How much aluminum foil will they need?
Captionless Image
400 sq. ft.
40 sq. ft.
360 sq. ft.
165 sq. ft.
The surface area of a square-based pyramid can be calculated using the formula: base area + (1/2 * perimeter of base * slant height).
In this case, the base of the pyramid is a square, so the base area is side length squared. Let's assume the side length of the base square is 10 units and the slant height is 15 units.
Base area = 10 * 10 = 100 sq. units
Perimeter of base = 4 * 10 = 40 units
Surface area = 100 + (1/2 * 40 * 15) = 400 sq. units
Therefore, Sara and Tomas will need 400 sq. ft. of aluminum foil to cover their square-based pyramid model.