Volume and Total Surface Area of Prisms

● A prism is a 3-dimensional shape that has two parallel faces which are congruent
polygons at both ends. It is also called a right prisim because the angle between the base
and the vertical sides are right angles.
● A right prism has a number of faces, edges and vertices.

● To find the total surface area of prisms, the sum of the area of all of the faces is taken.

Surface Area of a Cube

● A cube is a three-dimensional figure with six equal square faces. The surface area of a
cube is the sum of the area of the six squares that cover it. The following figure shows the
surface area of a cube.
● If s is the length of one of its sides, then the area of one face of the cube is s2. Since a
cube has six faces the surface area of a cube is six times the area of one face. Surface area
of a cube = 6s2

Surface Area of a Cuboid or Rectangular Prism

● A cuboid is a 3-dimensional object with six rectangular faces. All its angles are right
angles and opposite faces are equal. A cuboid is also called a rectangular prism or a
rectangular solid.

● To calculate the surface area of the cuboid we need to first calculate the area of each face
and then add up all the areas to get the total surface area.

● Total area of top and bottom surfaces is lw + lw = 2lw

Total area of front and back surfaces is lh + lh = 2lh
Total area of the two side surfaces is wh + wh = 2wh
Surface area of cuboid = 2lw + 2lh + 2wh = 2(lw + lh + wh)

● Find the surface area of the following cuboid.

● Total area of top and bottom surfaces is 2 × 5 × 6 = 60 in2
Total area of front and back surfaces is 2 × 5 × 3 = 30 in2
Total area of the two side surfaces is 2 × 6 × 3 = 36 in2
Surface area of cuboid = 60 + 30 + 36 = 126 in2
or
l = 6 in, w = 5 in and h = 3 in
Surface area of cuboid = 2(lw + lh + wh) = 2 (6 × 5 + 6 × 3 + 5 × 3) = 126 in2

Surface Area of a Triangular Prism

● A triangular prism is a 3-dimensional object with a triangular face as its base. It has fives
faces, two triangular faces and three rectangular faces.
● To calculate the surface area of the cuboid we need to first calculate the area of each face
and then add up all the areas to get the total surface area.

Surface area = Area of 2 triangles + Area of 3 Rectangles

● Surface area of prism = 2 × area of base + perimeter of base × height

Surface Area of a Solid Cylinder

● A cylinder is a solid that has two parallel faces which are congruent circles. These faces
form the bases of the cylinder. The cylinder has one curved surface. The height of the
cylinder is the perpendicular distance between the two bases.

● 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 = 2πr2 + 2πrh = 2πr(r + h)
where r is the radius and h is the height.

● Example: The diameter of the base of a cylinder is 12 cm and the height is 8 cm. Find the
surface area of the solid cylinder.

Radius = 6 cm
Surface area = 2πr (r + h)
 = 
= 528 cm2

Volume of Solids

● Volume is the amount of space occupied by a 3-dimensional object. Volume is usually

given in cubic units such as m m3 , c m3 ∨m3 .

● Capacity is the space within a container but as the thickness of many containers is
negligible, it has become acceptable to refer to the space inside as volume too. Capacity
is usually given in millilitres, centilitres or litres.

Volume of cube
Volume of the cube = s3

Volume of cuboid
 ● Volume of cuboid = l x w x h

● Example: Find the volume of the following rectangular prism or cuboid.

Volume = l × w × h

= 6 cm × 3 cm × 4 cm

= 72 cm3

Volume of triangular prism

● When a prism is positioned length ways, the base becomes the cross-section of the prism.

● The volume of a right prism is given by the formula:

Volume of prism = Area of cross-section × length = Al
Volume of cylinder
● The volume of the cylinder is the area of the base × height. Since the base is a circle and
the area of a circle is πr2 then the volume of the cylinder is πr2 × h

Volume of cylinder = πr2h

Worksheet
1. The length of the sides of a cube is 7 mm. Calculate the total surface area of the cube.
Calculate the total surface area and the volume of the following solids
2.

3.

4.

Find the volume of the following prisms

1.
2.

Volume and Total Surface Area of Pyramids

● A pyramid is a solid with a polygon base and connected by triangular faces to its vertex.
The lateral faces meet at a common vertex. The height of the pyramid is the
perpendicular distance from the base to the vertex.

● The volume of a pyramid is equal to one-third the product of the area of the base and the
height.
● We can find the surface area of any pyramid by adding up the areas of its lateral faces
and its base.
Surface area of any pyramid = area of base + area of each of the lateral faces

● Example: Calculate the surface area and volume of the following pyramid.

Volume and Total Surface Area of a Cone

● A cone is a solid with a circular base. It has a curved surface which tapers (i.e. decreases
in size) to a vertex at the top. The height of the cone is the perpendicular distance from
the base to the vertex.

● The volume of a right cone is equal to one-third the product of the area of the base and
the height.

where r is the radius of the base and h is the perpendicular height of the cone.

● Surface area of cone = Curved Surface Area + Area of circle

= πrs + πr2
= πr(r + s)

Volume and Total Surface Area of a Sphere

● A sphere is a solid with all its points the same distance from the center. The distance is
known as the radius of the sphere. The maximum straight distance through the center of a
sphere is known as the diameter of the sphere.
The volume of a sphere is equal to four-thirds of the product of pi and the cube of the radius.
The volume and surface area of a sphere are given by the formulas:

where r is the radius of the sphere.