Geometric Formula Review

There are many geometric formulas, and they relate height, width, length, or radius, etc, to perimeter, area, surface area, or volume, etc. Some of the formulas are rather complicated, and you hardly ever see them, let alone use them. But there are some basic formulas that you really should memorize, because it really is reasonable for your instructor to expect you to know them. For instance, it is very easy to find the area

A of a rectangle it is !ust the length l times the width w

Arect = lw

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+f you look at a picture of a rectangle, and remember that ,perimeter, means ,length around the outside,, you-ll see that a rectangle-s perimeter P is the sum of the top and bottom lengths l and the left and right widths w

Prect = 2l + 2w
S.uares are even simpler, because their lengths and widths are identical. The area a s.uare with side'length s are given by

A and perimeter P of

Asqr = s2 Psqr = 4s
/ou should know the formula for the area of a triangle0 it-s easy to memorize, and tends to pop up unexpectedly in the middle of word problems. 1iven the measurements for the base b and the height h of the triangle, the area A is

Atri = (1/2)bh
2f course, the perimeter P of the triangle will !ust be the sum of the lengths of the triangle-s three sides. /ou should know the formula for the circumference

C and area A of a circle, given the radius r

Acir = (pi)r2 Ccir = 2(pi)r

3,pi, is the number approximated by 3.14159 or the fraction 22/74 *emember that the radius of a circle is the distance from the center to the outside of a circle. +n other words, the radius is !ust halfway across. +f they give you the diameter, the length of a line going all the way across, then you-ll first have to divide it in half in order to apply the above formulas. The above are all ,flat,, two'dimensional shapes. Sometimes you will have to deal with three'dimensional shapes, such as cubes or cones.

The formula for the volume V of a cube is easy, since the length, the width, and the height are all the same value s

Vcube = s3
The formula for the surface area 3the area you would measure if you needed to paint the ouside of the cube4 is fairly easy, too, since all the sides have the same s.uare area of s2. There are six sides 3top, bottom, left, right, front, and back4, so the surface area SA is

SAcube= 6s2
The formulas get a bit more complicated for a ,rectangular prism,, which is the technical term for a brick. The volume V is still fairly simple, being length times width times height

Vrect = lwh
The surface area formula is a bit more ornate. 3Try to follow the reasoning that +-m going to use, because you-ll probably forget the formula, but it-s easy to recreate if you !ust take a little time and think about it.4 The top and bottom of the ,brick, have the same area, being length times width. The left and right sides of the brick have the same area, being width times height. )nd the front and back of the brick have the same area, being length times height. 35raw a picture, labelling the dimensions, if you-re not sure of this.4 Then the formula for the surface area SA of a brick is

SArect= 2lw + 2wh + 2lh

"ylinders 3which are like tubes, but with caps on the ends4 also come up occasionally. The volume cylinder is easy it-s the area of the end 3which is !ust the area of the circle4 times the height h

V of a

Vcyl = (pi)r2h
The surface area SA is the area of the ends 3which are !ust circles4, plus the area of the side, which is a circle-s circumference times the height h of the cylinder

SAcyl = 2(pi)r2 + 2(pi)rh

5epending on the class you-re taking, you might also need to know the formula for the volume cone with base radius r and height h

V of a

Vcone = (1/3)(pi)r2h
...or the volume V of a sphere 3a ball4 with radius r

Vsph = (4/3)(pi)r3
/ou may notice other formulas cropping up in your homework or classroom exercises. /ou may need to memorize these other formulas 3there are many64, so be sure to check with your instructor before the test to learn which you will be expected to know.