In Maths or in Geometry, a 

Cube is a solid three-dimensional figure, which has 6 square

faces, 8 vertices and 12 edges. It is also said to be a regular hexahedron. You must have
seen 3 × 3 Rubik’s cube, which is the most common example in the real-life and it is
helpful to enhance brain power. In the same way, you will come across many real-life
examples, such as 6 sided dice, etc. Solid geometry is all about three-dimensional
shapes and figures, which have surface areas and volumes. The other solid shapes are
cuboid, cylinder, cone, sphere. We will discuss here its definition, properties and its
importance in Maths. Also, learn the surface area formula for the cube along with its
volume formula.
Table of contents:

 Definition
 Shape
 Area and Volume
 Properties
 Difference Between Square and Cube
 How to make Cube
 Examples
 Practice Problems
 FAQs
 

Cube Definition
As discussed earlier, a cube is a 3-D
solid shape, which has 6 faces. A cube is one of the simplest shapes in three-
dimensional space. All the six faces of a cube are squares, a two-dimensional shape.

Cube Shape
Sometimes, the shape of a cube is considered as “cubic”. We can also say that a cube is
considered as a block, where all the length, breadth and height are the same. Along with
that, it has 8 vertices and 12 edges such that 3 edges meet at one vertex point. Check
the given image below, defining its faces, edges and vertices. It is also known as a
square parallelepiped, an equilateral cuboid and a right rhombohedron. The cube is one
of the platonic solids and it is considered as the convex polyhedron where all the faces
are square. We can say that the cube has octahedral or cubical symmetry. A cube is the
special case of the square prism.
In the above figure, you can see, edge, face and vertex of the cube. Here, L stands for
length, B stands for breadth and H stands for height. We can see the length, breadth and
height of the cube, which represents the edges of the cube, connected at a single point
which is the vertex. The faces of the cube are connected by four vertices. Since the cube
is a 3D shape, the two important parameters used to measure the cube are surface area
and volume. Now let us discuss the properties of the cube along with the formula for
surface area and volume.

Surface Area and Volume Formula For Cube

The surface area and the volume of the cube are discussed below:
Surface Area of a Cube
We know that for any shape, the area is defined as the region occupied by it in a plane. A
cube is a three-dimensional object, therefore, the area occupied by it will be in a 3d
plane. Since a cube has six faces, therefore, we need to calculate the surface area of the
cube, covered by each face. The formula to find the surface area can be found as given
below.
Let a be the edge of the cube.
Area of one face = Area of a square = a2
We know that the cube has 6 square shaped faces.
Lateral surface area (excluding the top and bottom faces) = 4 × Area of one face
LSA = 4a2
Total surface area = LSA + Area of the top and bottom faces
TSA = 4a2 + a2 + a2
TSA = 6a2
 Surface Area of Cube = 6a2 in a square units