Key learning points

1. The surface area of a composite solid is found by summing the area of all faces.
2. The faces may not always be the same shape.
3. The surface area may well be able to be calculated in a more efficient way.

Keywords

• Surface area - The surface area is the total area of all the surfaces of a closed 3D shape. The surfaces include all faces and any curved surfaces.

• Solid - A solid is a shape that has three dimensions (e.g. width, height and depth).

• Compound shape - A compound shape is a shape created using two or more basic shapes. A composite shape is an alternative for compound shape.

Common misconception