YOUR TURN 8 in.

4. Dara is building a plant stand. She wants 8 in.

Personal to stain the plant stand, except for the
Math Trainer 8 in.
Online Assessment
bottom of the larger prism. Find the
and Intervention surface area of the part of the plant 12 in.
[Link]
stand she will stain.
12 in.
12 in.

Guided Practice
Find the surface area of each solid figure. (Examples 1 and 2)
1. 2.
5 ft 5 ft 2.5 m
2.5 m

7 ft 2.5 m
3 ft
7m
8 ft 9m
Perimeter of base = 11 m
Surface area of cube:
Height =
S=
Base area =
Surface area of rectangular prism:
Surface area:
S=
S=( )( ) + 2( )
Overlapping area: A =
=
Surface area of composite figure:

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= + -2( )=

m2

?
? ESSENTIAL QUESTION CHECK-IN

3. How can you find the surface area of a composite solid made up of prisms?

286 Unit 4
 LESSON
Solving Volume
9.5
[Link]
Students will find the volume

Problems of a figure made of cubes and

prisms.

? ESSENTIAL QUESTION
How do you find the volume of a figure made of cubes
and prisms?

Volume of a Triangular Prism

The formula for the volume of a rectangular prism can be used for any prism.

Volume of a Prism
Math On the Spot
The volume V of a prism is the area of its base B times its height h. [Link]
V = Bh

EXAMPL 1
EXAMPLE

Bradley’s tent is in the shape of a triangular prism.

How many cubic feet of space are in his tent? 4 ft
5 ft 9 ft
STEP 1 Find the base area B of the triangular prism. 6 ft
1
__
B = bh Area of a triangle with base length b and height h
2
1 (6)(4)
= __ Substitute 6 for b and 4 for h.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©PinkBlue/

2
= 12 ft2
STEP 2 Find the volume of the prism.
V = Bh Volume of a prism with base area B and height h

= (12)(9) Substitute 12 for B and 9 for h.

= 108 ft3

The volume of Bradley’s tent is 108 ft3.

Reflect
1. Analyze Relationships For a prism that is not a rectangular prism,
Shutterstock

how do you determine which sides are the bases?

YOUR TURN Personal

Math Trainer
2. Find the volume of the prism. Online Assessment
and Intervention
7m 22 m
[Link]
24 m

Lesson 9.5 289

 Volume of a Composite Solid
You can use the formula for the volume of a prism to find the volume of a
composite figure that is made up of prisms.

Math On the Spot

EXAMPL 3
EXAMPLE [Link]

Allie has two aquariums connected by 3 ft 1 ft 3 ft

a small square prism. Find the volume
of the double aquarium. My Notes
3 ft
2 ft 3 ft
STEP 1 Find the volume of each
4 ft 1 ft 4 ft
of the larger aquariums.

V = Bh Volume of a prism

= (12)(3) Substitute 3 × 4 = 12 for B and 3 for h.

= 36 ft3
STEP 2 Find the volume of the connecting prism.

V = Bh Volume of a prism

= (1)(2) Substitute 1 × 1= 1 for B and 2 for h.

= 2 ft3
STEP 3 Add the volumes of the three parts of the aquarium.

V = 36 + 36 + 2 = 74 ft3

The volume of the aquarium is 74 ft3.

Reflect
6. What If? Find the volume of one of the large aquariums on either end
using another pair of opposite sides as the bases. Do you still get the
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

same volume? Explain.

YOUR TURN
7. The figure is composed of a rectangular 13 in.
30 in.
prism and a triangular prism. Find the Personal
volume of the figure. 13 in. Math Trainer
Online Assessment
9 in. and Intervention
[Link]

Lesson 9.5 291

Guided Practice
1. Find the volume of the triangular prism. (Example 1) 5 ft
5 ft

7 ft
B = _12bh = _12 (8)(3) = 12 ft 3 ft
8 ft
V = Bh = ( × ) ft = ft3

2. Find the volume of the trapezoidal prism. (Example 2) 3m

15 m

B = _12 ( b1 + b2 )h = _12 (15 + 5)(3) = 30m 11 m

V = Bh = ( × )m = m3 5m

3. Find the volume of the composite figure. (Example 3) 6 ft

Volume of rectangular prism = 4 ft

Volume of triangular prism =

4 ft 12 ft
Volume of composite figure =
6 ft
Find the volume of each figure. (Examples 2 and 3)

4. The figure shows a barn that Mr. Fowler is 5. The figure shows a container, in the shape of
building for his farm. a trapezoidal prism, that Pete filled with sand.
12 cm
10 ft
15 ft 5 cm

50 ft
40 ft 7 cm
10 cm

?
? © Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company
ESSENTIAL QUESTION CHECK-IN

6. How do you find the volume of a composite solid formed by two or

more prisms?

292 Unit 4
 Name Class Date

9.5 Independent Practice Personal

Math Trainer
Online
Assessment and
[Link] Intervention

7. A trap for insects is in the shape of a triangular prism. The area of the
base is 3.5 in2 and the height of the prism is 5 in. What is the volume
of this trap?

8. Arletta built a cardboard ramp for her little brothers’ toy cars.
Identify the shape of the ramp. Then find its volume.
6 in.
7 in.
25 in.
9. Alex made a sketch for a homemade soccer goal he plans to build. The
goal will be in the shape of a triangular prism. The legs of the right
triangles at the sides of his goal measure 4 ft and 8 ft, and the opening
along the front is 24 ft. How much space is contained within this goal?

10. A gift box is in the shape of a trapezoidal prism with base lengths of
7 inches and 5 inches and a height of 4 inches. The height of the gift box
is 8 inches. What is the volume of the gift box?

11. Explain the Error A student wrote this statement: “A triangular prism has
a height of 15 inches and a base area of 20 square inches. The volume of
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©The

the prism is 300 square inches.” Identify and correct the error.

Find the volume of each figure. Round to the nearest hundredth if

necessary.

12. B ≈ 23.4 in2 13. 7.5 m

Photolibrary Wales/Alamy Images

3 in. 7.5 m
3 in. 3.75 m
3 in. 3 in. 3.75 m
15 m

14. Multi-Step Josie has 260 cubic centimeters of candle wax. She wants to
make a hexagonal prism candle with a base area of 21 square centimeters
and a height of 8 centimeters. She also wants to make a triangular
prism candle with a height of 14 centimeters. Can the base area of the
triangular prism candle be 7 square centimeters? Explain.

Lesson 9.5 293