Question

why is surface area squared

Answer 1

surface area is a square unit because it is just the area of that figure and the total surface area of a solid is the sum of areas of all it's sides
some of the solids have a defined surface area that is De have a formula to calculate total surface area example the surface area of a cuboid is equal to 2 *(lb + bh + hl) and for cube at 6a^2 where a is the side of the square