SKILLS

15.1 3D shapes
face
A face is a flat surface of a solid. vertex
An edge is the line where two faces meet. Plan
A vertex is a point at which three or more edges meet. edge

A plan of a solid is the view from directly overhead (bird’s eye view).
An elevation is the view from the front or the side of the solid.

Front
elevation Side
elevation

Notice the extra bold line in the plan,

when the level of the cubes alters.
Plan Side elevation Front elevation

A net is a 2D shape that can be folded to form a 3D shape.

EXAMPLE

The nets of two solids are shown. a b

Name the solid that can be made a cuboid
from each net. b triangular prism

The surface area of a 3D shape is the total area of its faces.

EXAMPLE

Find the surface area

of this triangular prism. 1 8 cm
Triangle: Area = 2 × 4 × 3 = 6 cm2
8 cm 1
Triangle: Area = 2 × 4 × 3 = 6 cm2 4 cm
Side: Area = 3 × 8 = 24 cm2
3 cm 5 cm
Bottom: Area = 4 × 8 = 32 cm2 4 cm
4 cm Sloping 5 cm
side: Area = 5 × 8 = 40 cm2 3 cm
Surface area
= 6 + 6 + 24 + 32 + 40 = 108 cm2 3 cm

8 cm

Volume of a prism = area of cross-section × length

EXAMPLE

Calculate the volume of this triangular

prism. State the units of your answer.
2m
1
Area of triangle = 2 × 4 × 2 = 4 m2
4m 8m
Volume of prism = area of triangle × 8
= 4 × 8 = 32 m3
Geometry Working in 3D
302
Fluency

Exercise 15.1S
1 On square grid paper, draw the plan (P), the 4 a On square grid paper, draw the net for
front elevation (F) and the side elevation (S) each cuboid.
for each solid. i ii
a P b P
2 cm
3 cm
3 cm 5 cm
4 cm 2 cm

b Find the surface area of each cuboid.

F S
c Find the volume of each cuboid.
F S
5 Work out the surface areas of these prisms.
2 The plan, front elevation and side elevation
are given for these solids made from cubes. a 9 cm 13 cm
Draw a 3D sketch of each solid and state the
number of cubes needed to make it. 5 cm

a 12 cm

b 10 cm
plan front elevation side elevation 15 cm

b
9 cm

plan front elevation side elevation 12 cm

3 For these solids, draw 6 a Draw the net of this square-based

i the plan pyramid.
ii the front elevation from the direction b Use the net to find the surface area.
marked with an arrow.
a b
10 cm

7 cm
7 cm

7 a Find the volume of this shape.

6 cm
2 cm

c d
8 cm

15 cm
14 cm
b Draw the net of the shape.
c Use the net to find the surface area.

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 APPLICATIONS

15.1 RECAP 3D shapes

A 3D shape is a solid shape.
A net is a 2D shape that you can fold to make a 3D shape. vertex face

A plan of a solid is the view from directly overhead.

An elevation is the view from the front or the side of the solid. edge

The area of the net is called the surface area.

Volume of a prism = area of cross-section × length
HOW TO

1 Use your knowledge of 3D solids to draw a net, the plan and

elevations or a sketch of the solid. Each face is a cross-section.
2 Work out the answer, remember to include units and give an
explanation if the question asks for it.
EXAMPLE

A cube has surface area 150 cm2.

Find the volume of the cube.

1 A cube has six faces.

Each face has the same area.
Area of one face is 150 ÷ 6 = 25 cm2
Each face is a square, so length of each side is !25 = 5 cm
2 Volume of cube = area of cross-section × length
= 25 × 5
= 125 cm3
EXAMPLE

A 3D solid has this net.

1 Folding up the net gives 8 cm
8 cm
a triangular prism.

The cross-section 3 cm 5 cm
4 cm
is a triangle.
4 cm
4 cm 1
Area of triangle = 2 × base × height
5 cm
1
=2×3×4
3 cm

3 cm = 6 cm2
2 Volume = area of triangle × length
8 cm
Volume of solid = 6 × 8
Find the volume of the solid.
= 48 cm3

Geometry Working in 3D
304
Reasoning and problem solving

Exercise 15.1A
1 A solid is made from eight isosceles triangles 6 A cuboid has volume 200 cm3.
and one octagon. For this solid, write Write down three different possible
a the mathematical name dimensions of the cuboid.
b the number of faces 7 Draw and label a sketch of a triangular
prism with volume 120 cm3.
c the number of edges
8 A 3D solid has 6 cm
d the number of vertices. this net. 1.5 cm
2 Sketch six different nets of a cube. Find the volume 4 cm
3 Find the volumes of the cubes with these of the solid.
surface areas. 1.5 cm
2
a Surface area 54 cm 4 cm
4 cm
b Surface area 294 cm2
6 cm
c Surface area 96 cm2
d Surface area 1.5 m2 9 The diagrams show the plan and the front
4 Find the surface areas of the cubes with elevation of different solids.
these volumes. Find the volume of each solid.
3
a Volume 512 cm a
3
b Volume 1000 cm
c Volume 216 cm3
d Volume 1 m3 Plan Elevation

5 The diagrams show the plan and the front

elevation of different solids. b
i Draw a sketch of each solid.
ii Find the volume of each solid.
iii Find the surface area of each solid.
Plan Elevation
a

*10 Ben wants to use 2.5 m

this card to make
4 1 an open-topped box 1m
1 2 in the shape of a cube.
Plan Elevation
He wants the box to be as big as possible.
a Draw a sketch of a net he could use.
b
b How long will the sides of the box be?

2 2 11 Harriet says that you can use this formula to

1 1 find the surface area of a prism.
Plan Elevation
Surface area = 2a + pl,
where a = area of cross-section,
p = perimeter of cross-section and
The numbers on the plan tell you the number of l = length.
cubes in each column. Explain why Harriet’s formula works.

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 SKILLS

15.2 Volume of a prism

Volume of a prism = area of cross-section × length
cross
section
EXAMPLE

Calculate the volume of

this triangular prism. length
State the units of your 2m
A
answer.
4m 8m h
1
Area of triangle = 2 × 4 × 2 = 4 m2
A h
Volume of prism = area of triangle × 8
= 4 × 8 = 32 m3 A
2πr
A cylinder is a prism with circular cross-section. h
h

Volume of a cylinder = area of circle × height

3D solids such as cylinders and spheres have curved surfaces.

The curved face of a cylinder opens out to make a rectangle.

Surface area of a cylinder = 2 × area of circle + area of curved face

= 2πr2 + 2πrh.
EXAMPLE

Find the volume and surface area of this cylinder. 3 cm

Give your answers to 3 significant figures. Do not round intermediate
steps of the calculation.
Area of circle = π × 32 = 28.274 ... cm2 7 cm
Volume = 28.274 ... × 7 = 198 cm3 (3 sf )
Surface area = 2 × π × 32 + 2 × π × 3 × 7
= 188.495... cm2 = 188 cm2 (3 sf )

A sphere is like a ball. It has one curved surface, no edges and no vertices.
For a sphere with radius = r cm

4 3
Volume of a sphere V= πr cm3 Surface area of a sphere SA = 4πr2 cm2
3
EXAMPLE

A tennis ball has radius 4.2 cm.

4
Find, giving your answers to 1 dp a Volume of tennis ball = 3 πr3
4
a its volume = 3 π × 4.23 = 310.3 cm3 (1 dp)
b its surface area. b Surface area = 4πr2
= 4π × 4.22 = 221.7 cm2 (1 dp)

Geometry Working in 3D
306
Fluency

Exercise 15.2S
1 Calculate the area of cross-section and the 4 Use the formula:
volume for each prism.
a b total surface area of a cylinder = 2πr2 + 2πrh

to find the total surface area of each cylinder

6 cm in question 3.
5 cm 10 m
8 cm
Give your answers to 1 decimal place and
2m
include the correct units.
3m
5 Find the volume and total Be careful with
c d 6 cm surface area of each cylinder. units in part d.

a 2 cm b
5 cm
4 cm 8 cm
4m
5m 10 cm 6 cm
8 cm
2m

2 Find the volume of this shape. c d 32 mm

4 cm
2 cm 4 cm 5 cm
4 cm

7 cm 6 Use the formula:

16 cm 4
volume of a sphere = πr3
12 cm 3

3 Use the formula: to calculate the volume of each sphere.

a b
curved surface area of a cylinder = 2πrh
7 cm 24 mm
to find the curved surface area of cylinders
with radius (r) and height (h).
Give your answers to 1 decimal place and
include the correct units. c radius = 13 cm d radius = 11 cm
a radius = 4 cm, height = 9 cm e radius = 25 cm f radius = 31 cm
b radius = 5 cm, height = 7.5 cm g radius = 17.3 cm h radius = 8.1 cm
c r = 16 cm, h = 8 cm i radius = 13.3 mm j radius = 1.26 m
d r = 11.3 cm, h = 26 cm 7 Use the formula:
e r = 13.9 cm, h = 2.9 cm
surface area of a sphere = 4πr2
f r = 13 mm, h = 2.36 mm
to find the surface areas of the spheres in
question 6.

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