When calculating total space, if one floor measures 100 x 50 feet, how do you calculate the total for four floors?

To calculate the total space for a building with multiple floors, you first determine the area of one floor. In this case, the dimensions of one floor are given as 100 feet by 50 feet. The area is calculated by multiplying these two dimensions:

Area of one floor = 100 feet x 50 feet = 5,000 square feet.

Since there are four identical floors, you then multiply the area of one floor by the number of floors to find the total area:

Total space = Area of one floor x number of floors = 5,000 square feet x 4 = 20,000 square feet.

Thus, the appropriate calculation to represent this total area methodologically is to first calculate the area of one floor (100 x 50), and then multiply that result by the number of floors (4). This is clearly encapsulated in the correct formulation.

The other options, while they also involve multiplication, do not adhere strictly to the process of calculating area (length x width) followed by scaling that area by the number of floors, leading to incorrect interpretations of space calculation.