Wednesday 19th October 2011

Geometry and Measures Surface Area and Volume of a Prism

Keywords Prism Cross-section volume

To do now task
Name at least 5 different 3D shapes

Learning objectives: To know, understand and be able to calculate the volume and surface area of a prism

Three-dimensional shapes
Some examples of three-dimensional shapes include:

A cube

A square-based pyramid

A cylinder

A triangular prism

A sphere

A tetrahedron

What is the definition of a 3D shape? Why?

Cross-sections of prisms
A prism is a 3-D shape that has a constant cross-section along its length. For example, this hexagonal prism has the same hexagonal cross-section throughout its length.

What is meant by cross section?

Where would you find it?

Volume of a prism
The volume of a prism is found by multiplying the area of its cross-section A by its length l (or by its height if it is standing on its cross-section). l

h A

V = Al

or

V = Ah

Volume of a prism made from cuboids

What is the volume of this L-shaped prism?

3 cm 3 cm

We can think of the shape as two cuboids joined together.

4 cm 6 cm

Volume of the green cuboid

= 6 3 3 = 54 cm3

Volume of the blue cuboid = 3 2 2 = 12 cm3 Total volume

5 cm

= 54 + 12 = 66 cm3

Volume of a prism
Remember, a prism is a 3-D shape with the same cross-section throughout its length.

3 cm

We can think of this prism as lots of Lshaped surfaces running along the length of the shape.

Volume of a prism = area of cross-section length If the cross-section has an area of 22 cm2 and the length is 3 cm, Volume of L-shaped prism = 22 3 = 66 cm3

Which method is easier to use?

Why?

Area formulae of 2-D shapes (cross sections)

You should know the following formulae:
h b h b a h b

Area of a triangle =

1 bh 2

Area of a parallelogram = bh

Area of a trapezium =

1 (a + b)h 2

Volume of a prism
What is the volume of this triangular prism? 7.2 cm
Work set Page 305 Exercise 11C Question 1 only 10 Minutes time limit

4 cm

5 cm Area of cross-section = 5 4 = 10 cm2 Volume of prism = 10 7.2 = 72 cm3

Formula for the surface area of a cuboid

We can find the formula for the surface area of a cuboid as follows.

Surface area of a cuboid =

w
2 lw Top and bottom

+ 2 hw

Front and back

+ 2 lh

Left and right side

= 2lw + 2hw + 2lh

Surface area of a cube

How can we find the surface area of a cube of length x?

All six faces of a cube have the same area.

The area of each face is x x = x2 Therefore, x

Surface area of a cube = 6x2

Can we link the faces of a 3D to the surface area?

How? Why?

Surface area of a prism

What is the surface area of this L-shaped prism?

3 cm 3 cm

4 cm

To find the surface area of this shape we need to add together the area of the two L-shapes and the area of the six rectangles that make up the surface of the shape.

6 cm
Total surface area = 2 22 + 18 + 9 + 12 + 6 + 6 + 15

5 cm

= 110 cm2

Using nets to find surface area

It can be helpful to use the net of a 3-D shape to calculate its surface area. Write down the area of each face. Then add the areas together to find the surface area.

Here is the net of a 3 cm by 5 cm by 6 cm cuboid.

6 cm
3 cm 18 cm2 3 cm

6 cm
Work set Page 306 Question 2 onwards Level C

5 cm 15 cm2

30 cm2

15 cm2

30 cm2

3 cm

18 cm2

3 cm

Surface Area = 126 cm2