A solid metal cuboid measuring 27 cm by 8 cm by 1 cm is melted and recast into a single solid cube. What is the total surface area of that cube, in square cm?

Volume = $27\times 8\times$ 1 = 216 cubic cm, and melting conserves volume, so the cube's edge is ∛216 = 6 cm. Its surface area = $6\times 6^2=216$ sq cm — numerically the same as the volume, by coincidence. The trap 502 is the ORIGINAL cuboid's surface area, $2(216+8+27)$; surface area, unlike volume, is not preserved when a solid is recast. 36 is one face only, and 1296 multiplies the volume by 6 instead of the face area.