The square inches of paper Ray needs are equal to the area of the sides he wants to cover.
The area of an object refers to the surface or space occupied by the object.
In this situation calculating the area is essential because by doing this, Ray can know how much paper he needs.
Different formulas can be used to calculate the area depending on the shape of the object.
This means to know the exact answer, Ray needs to calculate the area of the sides he wants to cover and this is equal to the paper he needs to buy.
Note: This question is incomplete because the picture was not attached. Due to this, I answered it based on general knowledge.
Learn more about area in: https://brainly.com/question/16151549