Question

a square pyramid and its net are shown below. what is the surface area of the pyramid?

Explanation:

Step1: Find area of square base

The base is a square with side length 16 cm. Area of square is $side^2$.
$16\times16 = 256$ $cm^2$

Step2: Find area of one triangular face

Each triangular face has base 16 cm and height 15 cm. Area of triangle is $\frac{1}{2}\times base\times height$.
$\frac{1}{2}\times16\times15 = 120$ $cm^2$

Step3: Find total area of four triangular faces

There are 4 triangular faces. So total area is $4\times120 = 480$ $cm^2$

Step4: Find surface area of pyramid

Surface area is area of base plus area of four triangular faces.
$256 + 480 = 736$ $cm^2$

Answer:

The surface area of the square pyramid is $\boldsymbol{736}$ square centimeters.