Pearson Geometry Common Core, 2011
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Pearson Geometry Common Core, 2011 View details
7. Areas and Volumes of Similar Solids
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Exercise 19 Page 747

Start by finding the scale factor. If the scale factor of two similar solids is a:b, then the ratio of the areas is a^2:b^2 and the ratio of their volumes is a^3:b^3.

112m^2

Practice makes perfect
We are given the volumes of two similar figures and the surface area of the smaller figure. We want to find the surface area of the larger figure. c|c Smaller Figure & Larger Figure [0.8em] V= 27m^3 & V= 64m^3 S.A.= 63m^2 & S.A.= ? To do so we will start by finding the scale factor of the solids. If the scale factor of two similar solids is a:b, then the ratio of their volumes is a^3:b^3. With this information and knowing the volume of both figures, we can find the scale factor.
a^3/b^3=64/27
â–Ľ
Solve for a/b

a^m/b^m=(a/b)^m

(a/b)^3=64/27
a/b=sqrt(64/27)
a/b=sqrt(64)/sqrt(27)
a/b=4/3
a:b=4:3
The scale factor is 4:3. We can now square each number to obtain the ratio of the areas of the figures.
a/b=4/3
(a/b)^2=(4/3)^2
a^2/b^2=16/9
a^2:b^2=16:9
The ratio of the areas is 16:9. We know that the area of the smaller figure is 63m^2. If we let x be the area of the larger figure, the ratio of x to 63 is 16:9.
x/63=16/9
â–Ľ
Solve for x
x=16/9(63)
x=16(63)/9
x=112
The surface area of the larger figure is 112m^2.