The lateral surface area of a prism is the total of the area of the faces.
        Lateral Surface Area
                                             
                                              Perimeter of the base  Height of the prism
                                              Perimeter of the base times the altitude

Rule 1: The lateral area of the prism is equal to the perimeter of the base times the altitude.

Rule 2: Total surface area of a prism is the sum of the lateral areas and the area of its base.

Example:
            Find the area of the whole surface of a right triangular prism whose height is m and the sides of whose base are  and m, respectively.
Solution:
            In all there are five planes figures, i.e., two triangles and three rectangles. Since both the rectangles are of equal area.
            Area of both triangles
                                               
                                                 Square meter
Area of all three Rectangles  
                                                 Square meter
Area of the whole surface        Square meter