How do you calculate the area of a cylinder surface?

A cylinder is formed by a rectangle and two circles. In order to calculate the area of a cylinder surface you have to know the area of each one of the parts that belong to it. Concerning the calculation of the circles area, the process is quite simple, since it is enough to know the radius and the mathematical formula which gives us that area. Regarding the rectangle, we must know the length and the width since their product gives us the area. The width will be the height of the cylinder but what is not obvious for many students is that the length of the rectangle is obtained from the calculation of the circle perimeter which is used in the base, as you can see in the following animation. Instead of it you can always use this formula which makes the calculation process faster: `A = h(2pir) + 2pir^2`

Are there any formulas to calculate the surface area of all the solids?

Planning is the name given to the process that consists in transforming a three-dimensional object into a two-dimensional object. All of us have already been through the following situation when we were attending elementary education: our teacher gave us a piece of cardboard where we draw the planning of a cube (or any other solid). Then we cut out the planning and finally we build the cube by proceeding to some folding and by using glue. In order to calculate the surface area of any solid you do not need to know complicated mathematical formulas by heart. It's enough for you to know how to decompose the solid in the several geometric figures needed to build it and then sum up the area of each one of the figures.

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