We can tell that we are solving for area because the question asked "how much paper to cover the entire pyramid". Notice that the image is the net of the pyramid, so we can find the area of the square (base), and then the area of the triangles (walls) and add them all together to find the total area.
Area of a Square: Length x Width
A = 4.4 x 4.4
A = 19.36
Area of a Triangle: [tex] \frac{Base x Height}{2} [/tex]
A = 4.4 x 3.8 ÷ 2
A = 8.36
** We have 4 triangles, and 8.36 is the area for ONE triangle. We can multiply this by 4 to determine the area of all of the triangles together.
8.36 x 4 = 33.44
Now that we have our area for the base of the pyramid and the walls of the pyramid, we can add them together to determine the total area, and how much paper Serena will need.
19.36 + 33.44 = 52.8
So, Serena will need 52.8 [tex] in^{2} [/tex] of paper to cover the entire pyramid.
