Formula and method
Add the areas of all exposed faces. A rectangular box uses 2(lw + lh + wh), a sphere uses 4πr² and a closed cylinder uses 2πr(r + h). The result displays the selected solid’s formula.
Worked example
A box measuring 3 × 4 × 5 units has surface area 2(12 + 20 + 15) = 94 square units.