Directed Investigation

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INTRODUCTION
In the present day world, many schools and educational institutes burden students with the memorisation of multiple surface area formulas for a particular prism. It is vital to have the understanding of how various surface area formulas make geometry appear a hard stream of mathematics. The aim of this directed investigation is to discuss the topic question “Is it possible to develop a general formula for the surface area of any prism” and furthermore to develop a formula that can be used as a shortcut for the surface area of any prism calculations. This investigation will look into finding the relationship between the surface area of different prisms by using a whole range of formula and patterns.

METHOD
There were many measurement formulas taken under considerations within the investigation in order to study the given topic question. These formulas played a significant role in solving the topic question and the main ones considered were –

A = L*W where P = where –
A is the Area of the shape
L is how long the shape is (Length)
W is how wide the shape is (Width)

The area formula was mainly put into practice to calculate the area of the middle sections of the prism and the area of the regular polygon bases, whereas the perimeter formula was put into practice to calculate the perimeter of the regular polygon bases. The investigation was divided into 3 main parts. The first two parts primarily considered solving the topic question and developing the shortcut formula, whereas the third part considered testing the findings from part 1 & 2 on special prisms called ‘Platonic Solids’.

PART 1
In order to start off the investigation the first step taken into consideration was to sketch the shapes and nets of 4 prominent ...

... middle of paper ...

... everyone is capable enough to remember the surface area formulas for different prisms such as rectangular prism and hexagonal prism. It is essential that this formula is taught in all the educational institutes as a relief for students because remembering a whole series of formulas prevent students from doing maths, consequently, it makes geometry appear a hard stream of mathematics.

This investigation was mainly solved through observing a series of patterns and shapes. The most common formula used was A = L*B. Substituting numbers was the easiest way of solving the area problems.
To understand the topic surface area better, the results could have been improved by exploring why.

CONCLUSION
The use of various mathematical applications within the investigation strongly determine that it is possible to develop a general formula for the surface area of any prism.

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