To find the surface area of the rectangular prism, we use the formula for the surface area of a rectangular prism:

$\text{Surface Area} = 2lw + 2lh + 2wh$

Where:

• $l$ is the length
• $w$ is the width
• $h$ is the height

From the image:

• Length $l = 3 \, \text{in}$
• Width $w = 1 \, \text{in}$
• Height $h = 8 \, \text{in}$

Now, substituting these values into the formula:

$\text{Surface Area} = 2(3)(1) + 2(3)(8) + 2(1)(8)$ $\text{Surface Area} = 2(3) + 2(24) + 2(8)$ $\text{Surface Area} = 6 + 48 + 16 = 70 \, \text{in}^2$

So, the surface area of the rectangular prism is 70 square inches.

Do you need further details or have any questions?

Here are five related questions to expand your understanding:

1. How would the surface area change if the length, width, or height were doubled?
2. Can you find the volume of this rectangular prism?
3. How is surface area important in real-world applications?
4. What would the surface area be if one dimension was reduced by half?
5. How would you calculate the surface area of a cube?

Tip: When calculating surface area, ensure that you correctly account for all faces of the prism, as forgetting even one pair of faces can lead to errors.