How is the surface area of a cube calculated?

The surface area of a cube is calculated using the formula that accounts for all six square faces of the cube. Each face of a cube is a square with an area equal to the side length (or edge length) squared. Since a cube has six identical square faces, the total surface area is the area of one face multiplied by six. This results in the formula for surface area being 6 times the square of the edge length.

Therefore, the correct formula for calculating the surface area of a cube is S.A. = 6(edge)^2. This means that if you know the length of one edge of the cube, you can simply square that value and then multiply it by six to find the total surface area. This reflects the fundamental geometric properties of the cube, making it a straightforward calculation.