A pyramid has a parallelogram shaped base and a peak directly above its center. Its base's sides have lengths of #6 # and #3 # and the pyramid's height is #7 #. If one of the base's corners has an angle of #(5pi)/6#, what is the pyramid's surface area?

1 Answer
Apr 5, 2016

#V_("pyr")=1/3|6*3|sin(5/6pi)*7 = 21 "units"^3#
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Explanation:

Given : parallelogram (quadrilateral) pyramid with sides, height and angle between sides as follows -
#AB=6; AC=3, EF=7# and #/_BAC=5/6pi#

Required: Volume?

Solution Strategy: Use the general pyramid volume formula.
a) #V_("pyr") = 1/3("Base Area" xx "Height")=1/3A_("pllgm")xxH#
b) #A_("pllgm") = |s_1*s_2|*sintheta#

So inserting b) into a) we get the volume
#V_("pyr")=1/3|bar(AB)*bar(AC)|sintheta*bar(EF) # substituting
#V_("pyr")=1/3|6*3|sin(5/6pi)*7 = 21 "cubic units"#