Question

GEOMETRY What is the surface area of a cube with a side length of 2 meters?

Short answer

The surface area of the cube is 24 square meters.

Step-by-step solution

Step 1. State the formula.

The formula for surface area of a cube is $S=6a^2$, where S is the surface area and a is the side length of the cube.

Step 2. List the given data.

The side length of the cube is 2m. Then, $a=2\mathrm{m}$.

Step 3. Calculate the surface area.

Put $a=2$in $S=6a^2$to get,

$$\begin{gathered} S=6{\left(2\right)}^2 \\ =6\left(4\right) \\ =24 \end{gathered}$$

So, $S=24$.

Step 4. Determine the unit.

Since the unit of side length is given as meters, the unit of the surface area must be square meters.

So, the surface area of the cube is approximately 24 square meters.