1. The area of a rectangular prism can be calculated with the following formula:
[tex]A=2(wh+lw+lh)[/tex]
Where l is the length, w is the width and h is the heigth.
2. Let's calculate the area with the original dimensions:
[tex]A1=2[(25cm)(20cm)+(35cm)(25cm)+(35cm)(20cm)]\\A1=4150cm^{2}[/tex]
3. If you multiply the length, width, and height by [tex]\frac{1}{5}[/tex], you obtain the following area:
[tex]l=(\frac{1}{5})(35cm)=7cm\\w=(\frac{1}{5})(25cm)=5cm\\h=(\frac{1}{5})(20cm)=4cm[/tex]
[tex]A2=2[(5cm)(4cm)+(7cm)(5cm)+(7cm)(4cm)]\\A2=166cm^{2}[/tex]
(The area decreases)
Therefore, the answer is: The area decreases from 4150 cm² to 166 cm².
