To find the surface area of a rectangular pyramid, we need to calculate the area of the base and the area of each of the four triangular faces.
1. Calculate the area of the base:
Area of base = l x w
Area of base = 15m x 12m
Area of base = 180 square meters
2. Calculate the area of each triangular face:
Area of a triangular face = (l x h) / 2
Area of a triangular face = (15m x 10m) / 2
Area of a triangular face = 75 square meters
3. Calculate the total surface area:
Total surface area = 2(lw) + 2(lh) + 2(wh) (base is not counted in the total surface area)
Total surface area = 2(15 x 12) + 2(15 x 10) + 2(12 x 10)
Total surface area = 360 + 300 + 240
Total surface area = 900 square meters
Therefore, the surface area of the rectangular pyramid is 900 square meters.