Question

Find the lateral surface area of the cube with side 1 cm.
A. $16c{{m}^{2}}$
B. $4c{{m}^{2}}$
C. $2c{{m}^{2}}$
D. $1c{{m}^{2}}$

Answer 1

Hint: The lateral surface area of a cube is $4{{a}^{2}}$ where $a$ is the side of the cube. The dimension of the side is already given in the question, so we can substitute it to find the lateral surface area.

Complete step-by-step answer:

Before proceeding with the question, we must know what a cube is and what is its lateral surface area. A cube is defined as the three-dimensional solid object bounded by six square faces, with three meetings at a vertex. The lateral surface area of a cube is defined as the total surface area minus the area of its base. The lateral surface area of a cube consists of the area of four of its sides added together, or four times the area of one of the cube’s sides. Let the side of the cube be $a$ units. Then its lateral surface area is given by $4{{a}^{2}}$.
In this question, we have been given that the side of a cube is 1 cm. We have been asked to find out the lateral surface area of this cube.
As we know that the lateral surface area of a cube of side $a$ units is given by $4{{a}^{2}}$, we can apply this formula.
Here, we have the length of the side of the cube as $a=1cm$. So, we can substitute it in the equation.
$\therefore $ The lateral surface area of a cube $=4{{\left( 1 \right)}^{2}}$
Hence, the lateral surface area of the cube of side 1 cm is $4sq.units$. So, the correct answer is option B.

Note: In some questions, total surface area and the base area is given. So in that case, the lateral surface area is given by total surface area minus the base area. There is a possibility of mistake, where the question is read wrongly and the student finds out the total surface area instead of the lateral surface area. The student can easily avoid all the calculations because the side is 1 cm, so the student can directly choose the correct answer from the options. Also, the student must not forget to write the units, as the area has its unit as $sq.units$.