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Surface area of a cylinder

This math skill teaches how to calculate the surface area of a cylinder by decomposing it into a net comprising two circular bases and a rectangular side. The area of each shape is computed and summed to find the total surface area.

Learn surface area of a cylinder

Teaching Transcript

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What is the surface area of this cylinder?

First we flatten the cylinder into a net and notice that we have two circles of radius 4, and a rectangle with a width equal to the circle's circumference

So the area of those shapes is 2 circles with an area of pi times the radius squared, and a rectangle of width 2 pi times the radius and height 8.

So we have areas of 32 times pi and 64 times pi

For a total surface area of 96 pi

Skill Practice

Surface area of a cylinder

Test your understanding of surface area of a cylinder by practicing it! Work through the below exercises to use it in practice.