How do you find the lateral area of a triangular prism? - Answers

The lateral area of a triangular prism is found by computing the perimeter of the triangular base (sum of the three sides) and multiplying it by the height of the prism. If the triangular base has sides of length s1, s2, and s3, and the height of the prism is h, then each lateral face of the prism would be a rectangle. The area of one face of the prism would be (s1 x h), the area of the second face of the prism would be (s2 x h), and the area of the third face of the prism would be (s3 x h). So the three lateral faces would have a total area of (s1 x h) + (s2 x h) + (s3 x h), or equivalently (s1 + s2 + s3) x h; i.e., (the perimeter of the triangular base) x (the height of the prism).