M9 Class 24 notes

3D Geometry

1. Cylinder

A cylinder is a solid with two congruent circles joined by a curved

surface.

In the above figure, the radius of the circular base is r and the height is
h. The volume of the cylinder is the area of the base × height.

The net of a solid cylinder consists of 2 circles and one rectangle. The curved surface opens up to form
a rectangle.

Surface area = 2 × area of circle + area of rectangle

Surface area of cylinder = 2πr2 + 2πrh = 2πr (r + h)

2. Sphere

A sphere is a solid with all its points the same distance from the
center.

3. Cylinders and Prisms

A prism is a 3 dimensional figure, which consists of 2 parallel, congruent (identical) faces called bases
and several lateral faces formed by connecting corresponding points on the lower and upper bases.
Cubes and boxes are examples of regular prisms.

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M9 Class 24 notes

The height of the prism is the perpendicular distance between the bases. A cylinder is a prism whose
bases are circular. In general the volume V of a prism is given by V = Ah where A is the area of the
bases and h is the height. Thus for a cylinder, the volume V = πr2h and the surface area S = 2πrh + 2πr2.

The Volume of a prism is simply the area of one end times the length of the prism

Volume = Area × Length

Example: What is the volume of a prism

whose ends are 25 in2 and which is 12 in long:
Answer: Volume = 25 in2 × 12 in = 300 in3

4. Cones and Pyramids

A pyramid is a solid figure with a polygonal base and a number of triangular lateral faces, all of which
share a common point, called the vertex of the pyramid. The most common pyramids are the triangular
pyramid or tetrahedron and the square or rectangular based pyramid. If the base is circular rather than
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polygonal we have a cone. For all these solid shapes the volume is V= Ah where A is the area of the
3
base and h is the height.

The Volume of a Pyramid

1
/3 × [Base Area] × Height

The Surface Area of a Pyramid

When all side faces are the same:
[Base Area] + 1/2 × Perimeter × [Slant Length]
When side faces are different:
[Base Area] + [Lateral Area]

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M9 Class 24 notes

►Volume (V) and Surface Area (SA) Formulas

Name Shapes Formula

Volume = Length ⋅ Width ⋅ Height

Rectangular Solid V = lwh
SA: Surface Area
SA =2lh + 2hw + 2lw

= π r 2 ⋅ height
Volume
Cylinder V = π r 2h
SA: Surface Area
SA 2π rh + 2π r 2
=

4
V = π r3
Sphere 3
SA: Surface Area
=
SA 4= π r2 π d 2
1
V = π r 2h
3
Cone SA: Surface Area
SA sπ r + π r 2 ,=
= s r 2 + h2
1
V= Bh (B: Area)
2
Prism SA: Surface Area
=
SA 2 B + Ph
SA = 2 B + (a + b + c) ⋅ h

1 1
=
V =Bh wlh ,
Pyramid 3 3
where B is the area of the base.

SA: Surface Area

When all side faces are the same:

Pyramid [Base Area] + 1/2 × Perimeter × [Slant Length]

When side faces are different:

[Base Area] + [Lateral Area]

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M9 Class 24 notes

Questions in class

1. A cube with an edge length of 6 is cut by a plane to form a quadrilateral ABCD, where B and D are
the midpoints of two edges of the cube. What is the area of the quadrilateral ABCD?

2. A company wants to construct a rectangular box that will hold exactly 150 cubes each of dimension
1 × 1 × 1 centimetre. What is the minimum possible surface area of the box, measured in square
centimetres?

3. The shortest path on the surface of a cube from vertex A to the furthest vertex B involves crossing a
certain number of faces and edges of the cube. See the diagram.

(a) How many faces and how many edges must be crossed?
(b) How many such shortest paths are there from vertex A to vertex B?
(c) If we call the intersection of a shortest path with an edge a “corner”, what is
the figure formed by the set of all corners?

4. (a) Figure 1 shows a net that can be folded to create a rectangular box. Determine the volume and the
surface area of the box.

(b) In Figure 2, the rectangular box has dimensions 2 by 2 by 6. From point A, an ant walked to point B
crossing all four of the side faces. The shortest path along which the ant could walk may be found by
unfolding the box, as in Figure 3, and drawing a straight line from A to B. Determine the length of AB
in Figure 3.

(c) In Figure 4, the rectangular block has dimensions 3 by 4 by 5. A caterpillar is at corner A.

Determine, with justification, the shortest possible distance from A to G along the surface of the block.

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M9 Class 24 notes

5. A 3 by 3 by 3 cube has three holes, each with a 1 by 1 by 1 cross-section running from the center of
each face to the center of the opposite face. What is the total surface area (in square units) of the
resulting solid?

6. A solid rectangular block with a 5 cm by 5 cm square base has a height of x cm. If the surface area
of the block is 120 cm2, then x equals what?

7. A 6 cm × 12 cm × 22 cm rectangular block of wood is painted red and then cut into small cubes,
each of which has a surface area of 6 cm2. What is the number of small cubes that have red paint on
exactly two faces?

8. A glass box 7 cm by 12 cm by 18 cm, closed on all six sides, is partly filled with coloured water.
When the box is placed on one of its 7 by 12 sides, the water level is 15 cm above the table. When the
box is placed on one of its 7 by 18 sides, what is the water level above the table, in cm?