Handbook

AMC 8 Lesson 4–3D Geometry

Ask

【Ask 1】
Isabella uses one-foot cubical blocks to build a rectangular fort that is 12 feet long, 10 feet wide, and 5
feet high. The floor and the four walls are all one foot thick. How many blocks does the fort contain?
(A) 204 (B) 280 (C) 320 (D) 340 (E) 600

【Ask 2】
Jerry cuts a wedge from a 6-cm cylinder of bologna as shown by the dashed curve. Which option is
closest to the volume of his wedge in cubic centimeters? (π is approximated as 3 in this question)
(A) 48 (B) 75 (C) 151 (D) 192 (E) 603

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AMC 8 Lesson 4–3D Geometry

【Ask 3】
Alex and Felicia both have cats as pets. Alex buys cat food in cylindrical cans with diameter of 6 cm
and height of 12 cm. Felicia buys cat food in cylindrical cans with diameter of 12 cm and height of 12
cm. What is the ratio of the volume of Alex's can to that of Felicia's?
(A) 1:4 (B) 1:2 (C) 1:1 (D) 2:1 (E) 4:1

【Ask 4】
Akash's birthday cake is in the form of a 4 × 4 × 4 inch cube. The cake has icing on the top and the
four side faces, and no icing on the bottom. Suppose the cake is cut into 64 smaller cubes, each
measuring 1 × 1 × 1 inch, as shown below. How many of the small pieces will have icing on exactly
two sides?
(A) 12 (B) 16 (C) 18 (D) 20 (E) 24

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AMC 8 Lesson 4–3D Geometry

【Ask 5】
The faces of a cube are painted in six different colors: red (R), white (W), green (G), brown (B), aqua
(A), and purple (P). Three views of the cube are shown below. What is the color of the face opposite
the aqua face?
(A) red (B) white (C) green (D) brown (E) purple

【Ask 6】
There are lines as shown in the picture on the faces of a cube. Which of the following is the net of this
cube?

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AMC 8 Lesson 4–3D Geometry

【Ask 7】
A regular octahedron has eight equilateral triangle faces with four faces meeting at each vertex. Jun
will make the regular octahedron shown on the right by folding the piece of paper shown on the left.
Which numbered face will end up to the right of Q?
(A) 1 (B) 2 (C) 3 (D) 4 (E) 5

【Ask 8】
The figure below shows a polygon ABCDEFGH, consisting of rectangles and right triangles. When
cut out and folded on the dotted lines, the polygon forms a triangular prism. Suppose that AH = EF =
8 and GH = 14. What is the volume of the prism?
(A) 112 (B) 128 (C) 192 (D) 240 (E) 288

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AMC 8 Lesson 4–3D Geometry

Analysis

【Ask 1】
Isabella uses one-foot cubical blocks to build a rectangular fort that is 12 feet long, 10 feet wide, and 5
feet high. The floor and the four walls are all one foot thick. How many blocks does the fort contain?
(A) 204 (B) 280 (C) 320 (D) 340 (E) 600

Hint:
Step 1: Find the volume of the outer layer
The volume of a Cuboid = Length × Width × Height
The volume of a cuboid outer layer= 12 × 10 × 5 = 600
Step 2: Find the volume of the inner layer
The volume of a cuboid inner layer = (12-2) × (10-2) × (5-1) = 10 × 8 × 4 = 320
Step 3: Find the answer
600 - 320 = 280
The fort contains 280 one-foot cubical blocks
Answer: B

【Ask 2】
Jerry cuts a wedge from a 6-cm cylinder of bologna as shown by the dashed curve. Which option is
closest to the volume of his wedge in cubic centimeters? (π is approximated as 3 in this question)
(A) 48 (B) 75 (C) 151 (D) 192 (E) 603

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AMC 8 Lesson 4–3D Geometry

Hint:
Step 1: Find the volume of the cylinder
The Volume of a Cylinder = Area of base × Height = π × r² × h
r = 8 ÷ 2 = 4 cm h = 6 cm
V = π × 4² × 6 = 96π
Step 2: Find the answer
The slice is cutting the cylinder into two equal wedges with equal area
!"#
The volume of his wedge = $
= 48𝜋≈ 151

Answer: C

【Ask 3】
Alex and Felicia both have cats as pets. Alex buys cat food in cylindrical cans with diameter of 6 cm
and height of 12 cm. Felicia buys cat food in cylindrical cans with diameter of 12 cm and height of 12
cm. What is the ratio of the volume of Alex's can to that of Felicia's?
(A) 1:4 (B) 1:2 (C) 1:1 (D) 2:1 (E) 4:1
Hint:
Step 1: Find the volume of the can Alex buys.
The Volume of a Cylinder= Area of base × Height = π × r² × h
The cans Alex buys have diameter of 6 cm and height of 12 cm.
r = 6 ÷ 2 = 3 cm h = 12 cm
V = π × 3² × 12
Step 2: Find the volume of the can Felicia buys.
The cans Felicia buys have diameter of 12 cm and height of 6 cm.
r = 12 ÷ 2 = 6 cm h = 6 cm
V = π × 6² × 6
Step 3: Find the answer
% × (² × *$ *
The ratio = % × "² × "
=$.

Answer: B

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AMC 8 Lesson 4–3D Geometry

【Ask 4】
Akash's birthday cake is in the form of a 4 × 4 × 4 inch cube. The cake has icing on the top and the
four side faces, and no icing on the bottom. Suppose the cake is cut into 64 smaller cubes, each
measuring 1 × 1 × 1 inch, as shown below. How many of the small pieces will have icing on exactly
two sides?
(A) 12 (B) 16 (C) 18 (D) 20 (E) 24

Hint:

Note: Consider no icing on the bottom.

There are 20 small pieces that will have icing on exactly two sides.
Answer: D

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AMC 8 Lesson 4–3D Geometry

【Ask 5】
The faces of a cube are painted in six different colors: red (R), white (W), green (G), brown (B), aqua
(A), and purple (P). Three views of the cube are shown below. What is the color of the face opposite
the aqua face?
(A) red (B) white (C) green (D) brown (E) purple

Hint:
Step 1: Let the 3 views be images 1, 2 and 3

From Image 1 and Image 2, based on the direction of letter B, we can get face G is opposite to face W.
From Image 1 and Image 3, based on the direction of letter R, we can get face B is opposite to face P.
Step 2: Find the answer
There are 2 faces left, A and R.
Thus, Face A is opposite to face R.
Answer: A

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AMC 8 Lesson 4–3D Geometry

【Ask 6】
There are lines as shown in the picture on the faces of a cube. Which of the following is the net of this
cube?

Hint:
Step 1: Exclude options based on the features of opposite faces.
(A) The two faces marked below are opposite faces, and it is impossible to appear at the same time
according to the placement, so exclude A.
(E) The faces at both ends of the "Z" are opposite faces, and it is impossible to appear at the same time
according to the placement, so exclude E.
Step 2: Judging options based on shape features of adjacent faces
(B) 1-4-1 type. After translation, it can be seen that there are two lines parallel to each other, but in the
original cube the lines are intersected. Not the right answer.

Option B
(C) The overlap of the two edges is at 90°. It can be seen that after folding, there are also two lines
parallel to each other. Exclude C.

Option C
Answer: D

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AMC 8 Lesson 4–3D Geometry

【Ask 7】
A regular octahedron has eight equilateral triangle faces with four faces meeting at each vertex. Jun
will make the regular octahedron shown on the right by folding the piece of paper shown on the left.
Which numbered face will end up to the right of Q?
(A) 1 (B) 2 (C) 3 (D) 4 (E) 5

Hint:
Method 1: Analyze based on adjacent and opposite faces.
We color face 6 red and face 5 yellow. Note that from the octahedron, face 5 and face "?" do not share
anything in common. From the net, the face shares at least one vertex with all other faces except face
1, which is shown in green:

Therefore, the answer is (A).

Method 2: "One-row" translation
In the net below, faces 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, and Q are in a row. Face 1 can be directly moved to the right of
face Q. Therefore, in the solid figure, face 1 is on the right of face Q.

Answer: A

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AMC 8 Lesson 4–3D Geometry

【Ask 8】
The figure below shows a polygon ABCDEFGH, consisting of rectangles and right triangles. When
cut out and folded on the dotted lines, the polygon forms a triangular prism. Suppose that AH = EF =
8 and GH = 14. What is the volume of the prism?
(A) 112 (B) 128 (C) 192 (D) 240 (E) 288

Hint:
Step 1: Find the area of the base
△BJG is the base of the prism.
*
The area of △BJG = $ × BJ × GJ

① BJ = AH = 8.

② EF intersects with GF at common point F, they are common edges, so EF = GF = BC = 8.

BC intersects with AB at common point B, they are common edges, so BC = AB = HJ = 8.
Since GH = 14, GJ = 14 - 8 = 6.

*
So, the area of △BJG = $ × 6 × 8 = 24.

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AMC 8 Lesson 4–3D Geometry

Step 2: Find the volume of the prism

Because BG and CF are edges of the base, they are not lengths of the prism.
Since HJ connects with the right angle vertex J of the base, HJ can be considered as the length of the
prism, which is 8.
Volume = Area of Base × Height = 24 × 8 = 192

Answer: C

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AMC 8 Lesson 4–3D Geometry

Wrap up

1. The Volume of a Column = Area of base × Height

① The Volume of a Cuboid = Length × Width × Height

② The Volume of a Cylinder= π × r² × h

*
③ The Volume of a Triangular prism =$ × 𝑏 × ℎ × 𝑙

2. Counting painted small cubes

① Vertex cubes have 3 painted faces, edge cubes have 2 painted faces, wall cubes have 1 painted face
and core cubes have no painted face.
② The method for Counting painted small cubes: Count by layers from top to bottom.

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AMC 8 Lesson 4–3D Geometry

3. Regarding the opposite faces of a cube:

① The two faces with a gap in between are opposite faces.

② The faces at both ends of the "Z" are opposite faces.

4. "One-row" translation:
Since the leftmost edge must be connected with the rightmost edge, if the net of a solid figure follows
"One-row" translation, one face at one end can be translated directly to the other end.

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