A shoe box measures 15 in. by 7 in. by 4 1/2 in. what is the surface area of the box?

To find the surface area of a rectangular prism, you need to find the area of each of the faces and add them together. In this case, the shoe box has three faces that are 15 inches by 7 inches, and three faces that are 15 inches by 4.5 inches. The total surface area of the shoe box is therefore:

2 * (15 in. * 7 in.) + 2 * (15 in. * 4.5 in.) + 2 * (7 in. * 4.5 in.) = 210 in. + 135 in. + 63 in. = 408 in.

So the surface area of the shoe box is 408 square inches.