Question 32·Medium·Area and Volume
A right prism has an equilateral-triangular base with side length 6 centimeters and a height of 10 centimeters. What is the volume, in cubic centimeters, of the prism?
For right-prism volume questions, immediately write , where is the area of the base. Identify the base shape (here, an equilateral triangle) and recall or quickly derive its area formula—either use or find the triangle’s height with a 30-60-90 triangle and then use . Once you have the base area, multiply by the given prism height and only then look at the choices, watching for distractors that come from using the wrong base area or ignoring radicals.
Hints
Recall the general volume formula
For any right prism, the volume is the area of its base times its height. Identify the shape of the base and the height given in the problem.
Focus on the base: an equilateral triangle
You need the area of an equilateral triangle with side length 6. You can either use the special formula for the area of an equilateral triangle, or find the triangle's height using a 30-60-90 triangle and then use .
Combine base area and height
Once you have the area of the equilateral triangle, multiply that area by the prism's height of 10 to find the volume.
Desmos Guide
Compute the area of the base in Desmos
In Desmos, type the expression for the area of the equilateral triangle base: (sqrt(3)/4)*6^2. Note the value Desmos gives for this area.
Multiply by the prism height
Now multiply the base area by the prism height: type (sqrt(3)/4)*6^2*10. This expression represents the volume of the prism; record the numerical value shown by Desmos.
Compare with the answer choices
In separate lines, type each answer choice as an expression (for example, 90*sqrt(3), 108*sqrt(3), 180, 360). Compare their numerical values to the volume you computed in Step 2. The choice whose value matches the volume is the correct answer.
Step-by-step Explanation
Use the volume formula for a right prism
For any right prism,
Here:
- The base is an equilateral triangle with side length 6 cm.
- The height of the prism is 10 cm.
So we first need the area of the equilateral-triangle base.
Find the area of the equilateral-triangular base
For an equilateral triangle with side length , the area formula is
Substitute :
So the area of the base is square centimeters.
Multiply base area by prism height to get the volume
Now use with base area and height :
So the volume of the prism is cubic centimeters.