How to Draw Pyramids

To find the surface area of a pyramid, start by calculating the area of the base and the lateral sides. The area of the base is simply the area of the geometric shape forming the base, such as a square, rectangle, or triangle. Next, determine the number of lateral sides, which corresponds to the number of faces of the pyramid. For most pyramids, these lateral sides are triangular. To calculate the area of each triangular lateral side, identify a triangle that intersects a vertex at the top of the pyramid. Define 'H' as the perpendicular distance from this vertex to the center of the base of the pyramid. If the height of the pyramid is given, use this information to find the lateral height, which is the slanted height along the surface of the lateral side. Apply the Pythagorean Theorem to find the lateral height. If the base of the pyramid is a regular polygon, such as a square or equilateral triangle, the lateral sides are also triangular. However, if the base is irregular, the lateral sides may not be uniform triangles, and each lateral side would need to be treated individually. In summary, to find the surface area of a pyramid, calculate the area of the base and add it to the total area of the lateral sides, which involves finding the area of each lateral side and summing them all together.

1.) Draw a triangle. 2.) Find it's middle point (connect each corner with the middle of the side it faces). 3.) Draw a straight line up from the middle point. 4.) Connect each corner of the triangle to the top of this line.

A square based pyramid will have one square face on the bottom and four diagonal faces (one for each side).