A pyramid has a square base with sides 8 and a slant height of 5. Find the total area.

To find the total surface area of the pyramid, we need to calculate the area of the base and the area of the four triangular faces.

Step 1: Calculate the area of the base

The base of the pyramid is a square with each side measuring 8 units. The area of a square is calculated using the formula:

Area = side × side

So, the area of the base is:

Area of base = 8 × 8 = 64 square units

Step 2: Calculate the area of one triangular face

Each triangular face has a base of 8 units (the same as the side of the square) and a slant height of 5 units. The area of a triangle is calculated using the formula:

Area = 1/2 × base × height

In this case, the base of the triangle is 8 and the height is the slant height, which is 5:

Area of one triangle = 1/2 × 8 × 5 = 20 square units

Step 3: Calculate the total area of the four triangular faces

Since there are four triangular faces, we multiply the area of one triangle by 4:

Total area of triangular faces = 4 × 20 = 80 square units

Step 4: Calculate the total surface area of the pyramid

Finally, we add the area of the base to the total area of the triangular faces to get the total surface area:

Total surface area = Area of base + Total area of triangular faces

Total surface area = 64 + 80 = 144 square units

Therefore, the total surface area of the pyramid is 144 square units.

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