To determine the surface area of the figure made up of cubes, we need to calculate the surface area of each visible face of the cubes. Each cube has a side length of 1 cm, so the area of one face of a cube is $1 \times 1 = 1 \, \text{cm}^2$.

Steps:

1. Count the total number of cubes: There are 10 cubes in the given structure.

2. Total surface area of one cube: A single cube has 6 faces, and since each face has an area of 1 cm², the surface area of one cube is $6 \times 1 = 6 \, \text{cm}^2$.

3. Identify hidden faces: In this arrangement, some cube faces are hidden from view because they are in contact with other cubes. We need to subtract the area of those hidden faces.

   • Top layer: The top three cubes have 5 visible faces each because one face on each cube is in contact with another cube. This gives $5 \times 3 = 15 \, \text{cm}^2$.

   • Second layer: The middle four cubes also have 5 visible faces each (since one face is hidden by a neighboring cube), yielding $5 \times 4 = 20 \, \text{cm}^2$.

   • Bottom layer: The remaining three cubes are part of the base structure and have only 3 visible faces each, as the other three are hidden by neighboring cubes or the ground. This results in $3 \times 3 = 9 \, \text{cm}^2$.

Total Surface Area:

The total surface area is the sum of the visible faces: $15 \, \text{cm}^2 \, (\text{top layer}) + 20 \, \text{cm}^2 \, (\text{middle layer}) + 9 \, \text{cm}^2 \, (\text{bottom layer}) = 44 \, \text{cm}^2$ It seems that the correct answer might be "None of the given answers," as the calculated surface area is not listed.

Would you like more details or clarifications on this solution?

Here are some related questions you might explore:

1. How do you calculate the surface area of a cube when it is part of a larger structure?
2. How do hidden faces of cubes affect the surface area calculation?
3. What are the key differences between surface area and volume in cube structures?
4. How does the arrangement of cubes affect the number of hidden faces?
5. Can we generalize a formula for calculating the surface area of cube stacks?

Tip: When calculating the surface area of complex 3D structures, visualize or sketch the hidden and visible faces to ensure accuracy.