Question

what is the difference between total surface area and lateral surface area

Answer 1

Hello

The difference between TSA and LSA is :

TSA is the sum of all surfaces of 3 dimensional figure

Whereas LSA is the sum of all lateral surfaces of a 3 dimensional figure.

This is what I know

Answer 2

In a three dimensional figure:

Total surface area is equal to the area of all the surfaces of the figure.

Lateral surface area excludes the top and bottom surfaces and includes only the walls.

Example:

• Total surface area includes all the walls of the room and the floor and ceiling.
• But lateral surface only refers to walls.
• The surface area of cube is 6a².
• The lateral surface area of a cube is 4a².
• Hence it excluded the area of two faces the floor and the roof.

Hope it helps.