Pyramid Surface Area Calculator
Enter the base edge and slant height of a square pyramid to get its total surface area and the lateral (side) area in square units.
Total and side area at once
Enter the base edge and slant height and the calculator returns the total surface area (b² + 2bl) and the lateral surface area (2bl) together.
Use the slant height
The second input is the slant height of a face — the face apothem — not the vertical height of the pyramid.
What is pyramid surface area?
The skin of a square pyramid
The pyramid surface area calculator finds how much area covers the outside of a right square pyramid — a shape with a square base and four identical triangular faces meeting at a point. The total surface area is the square base plus those four triangles; the lateral surface area counts only the triangular sides. Both come from two measurements: the base edge length b and the slant height l, the distance up the middle of a face. It is the number behind how much material a tent, a roof, or a glass pyramid needs, and how much paint or wrapping covers a pyramid-shaped object.
Enter the base edge and slant height in any single length unit and get the total and lateral surface area in square units instantly.
The lateral surface area is two times the base edge times the slant height (the combined area of the four triangular faces). Add the square base, b², to get the total surface area.
A = b² + 2 × b × lTake a square pyramid with a base edge of 6 and a slant height of 5.
Find the lateral area
2 × 6 × 5 = 60 — the four triangular faces together.
Find the base area
6² = 36 — the square base.
Add them
36 + 60 = 96 square units — the total surface area, with 60 as the lateral surface area on its own.
The formula is exact for a right square pyramid, but two points are worth keeping in mind.
Slant height, not vertical height — and a square base
The l in this formula is the slant height: the distance up the middle of a triangular face (the face apothem), not the vertical height from the base to the apex. If you only know the vertical height h, convert it first with l = √(h² + (b/2)²). The formula also assumes a regular square base with four identical faces; pyramids with rectangular or triangular bases use different expressions. Keep the base edge and slant height in the same length unit and the areas come back in that unit squared.