Lateral, means 'side'. So basically they want us to find out the surface area of the can, excluding the top and the bottom.
To solve for the lateral surface area, we multiply the height of the paint can by the circumference of the top circle. We know the height is 7 1/2 in but we need to solve for the circumference.
C=πd
C=6 5/8π in
Surface Area=7 1/2*6 5/8π=49 11/16π in² or 156.097in²
Answer= 49 11/16π in² or 156.097in²