The Geometry of Solids

Objective
To learn the vocabulary of polyhedrons--prisms,
pyramids, spheres, cylinders, and cones.
 What do we call a two
dimensional geometric figure?

What is a three dimensional

geometric figure called?
Some real-world geometric solids occur in nature:

crystals diamonds

graphite
Other geometric solids are man-made:

baseballs hockey pucks

Other geometric solids are man-made:

soup cans
buildings
 Types of Geometric Solids:
Polyhedra and Non-Polyhedra

Solids come in 2 types: polyhedra and non-polyhedra.

Non-polyhedra describes any geometric solid that has any
surface that is not flat, like a sphere, cone, or cylinder.
cylinder cone

sphere torus
 Polyhedra and Non-Polyhedra

Polyhedra describes a geometric solid that has all flat faces, but
the faces don’t have to be the same size or shape. Polyhedra must
have at least 4 faces but there is no limit to how many faces they
can have. Some examples of polyhedra are pictured below:

Truncated dodecahedron
Pentagonal prism
Truncated tetrahedron

Rhombicuboctahedron
Truncated cube Pentagonal prism
 Truncated What?

Some of the Polyhedra are called Truncated. Truncated means

that something is cut off. In a truncated polyhedra, the corners,
called “vertices,” are cut off and replaced with a new face. For
example, a truncated cube has new triangle shaped faces where the
cube’s vertices were. The shape of the original polyhedra will
determine the shape of the new face in each vertex.

The pictures below show a cube, and then a truncated cube.

Cube Truncated Cube

A Platonic Solid Platonic Solids
is a special type of
Polyhedra, in which
each face is exactly
the same, and the
same number of
faces meet at each
corner, or vertex.
They were named
after a famous
philosopher and
mathematician
from ancient
Greece named
“Plato.”
 Platonic Solids

Amazingly, there are only 5 geometric solids that

qualify as platonic solids.

NAME Number of Faces

Tetrahedron 4
Hexahedron(cube) 6
Octahedron 8
Dodecahedron 12
Icosahedron 20
 The Five Platonic Solids

Cube Dodecahedron

Tetrahedron

Octahedron
Icosahedron
 Vocabulary Words

 Dimension: a measurement of length in one direction

 Edge: the line where faces of a geometric solid meet
 Face: an individual surface of a geometric solid
 Non-Polyhedra: a geometric solid that has any surface that is
not flat
 Platonic solid: a polyhedra whose faces are all exactly the
same, and the same number of faces meet at each vertex
 Polyhedra: a geometric solid that has all flat faces
 Truncate: to cut off the vertices of a geometric sold and replace
them with a new face.
 Vertices: corners of geometric solid (singular is vertex)
 Quiz
Part 1 – Match the platonic solids to their names

Platonic Solids Names

_____ icosahedron
_____ dodecahedron
a. b.
_____ cube
_____ tetrahedron
c.
_____ octahedron

d. e.
 Quiz – Part 2

1. How many sides does an icosahedron have?

_________
2. Is a soccer ball shaped like a
a. truncated icosahedron
b. truncated dodecahedron
c. truncated cube

3. What is a vertex?
_____________
 Answers

Platonic Solids Names

__e__ icosahedron
__d__ dodecahedron
a. b.
_a___ cube
_b___ tetrahedron
c.
_c___ octahedron

d. e.
 Answers

1. How many sides does an icosahedron have?

___20____
2. Is a soccer ball shaped like a
a. truncated icosahedron
b. truncated dodecahedron
c. truncated cube

3. What is a vertex?
__a corner________
Polyhedron - a solid formed by polygons that enclose
a single region in space.
Faces - the flat polygonal surfaces of a polyhedron.

Edge - a segment where two faces intersect.

Vertex - the point of intersection of three or more

edges.
Polyhedron

 A geometric object with

flat faces and straight
edges.
 a polyhedron is a three -
dimensional figure made
up of sides called faces,
each face being a
polygon.
Base

 The lowest part. The

surface that a solid
object stands on, or
the bottom line of a
shape such as a
triangle or rectangle.
 ** A polyhedron is classified by its
number of faces.

** Exception: a polyhedron with four faces is called

a tetrahedron.
Regular Polyhedron
• each face is enclosed by a regular polygon.
• each face is congruent to the other faces.
• the faces meet at each vertex in exactly
the same way.
 What is a prism???
Prism - a polyhedron with two faces (bases) that
are congruent, parallel polygons. The
other faces are called lateral faces that
are parallelograms.

The lateral faces meet to form the lateral edges.

Right Prism- a prism whose lateral faces are rectangle.

* Its lateral edges are

perpendicular to its bases.
 A prism that is not a right prism is called
an oblique prism.

* The length of the altitude is

the height of the prism.
Pyramid - a solid with one base whose lateral edges
meet at a common vertex.

The altitude of the pyramid is the perpendicular

segment from its vertex to the plane of the base.
Sphere - is the set of all points in space at a given
distance from a point.
Hemisphere - is half a sphere and its circular base.

The circle that encloses the

base of a hemisphere is
called a GREAT CIRCLE.
(plane that passes through the center)
Cylinder - a solid with parallel, congruent, circular
bases.
If the axis of a cylinder is
perpendicular to the
bases, then the cylinder
is a right cylinder.
Cone - a solid with one circular base and a vertex.
 Prisms & Pyramids

Type Examples Properties

● 5 faces
2 triangular bases
Triangular Prism 3 rectangular faces
● 9 edges
● 6 vertices
6 faces
2 rectangular bases
4 rectangular faces
Rectangular Prism ● 12 edges
● 8 vertices

● 6 faces
2 square bases
4 square faces
Cube ● 12 edges
● 8 vertices

● 5 faces
1 square base
4 triangular faces
Square Pyramid ● 8 edges
● 5 vertices

● 4 faces
1 triangular base
3 triangular faces
Triangular Pyramid ● 6 edges
● 4 vertices
 Three Dimensional
Figures with Curved Surfaces
Type Example Properties

●2 circular bases
● 1 curved surface
Cylinder

●1 circular base
Cone ● 1 curved surface
● 1 vertex

Sphere ●1 curved surface

Review

 What is a solid figure?

1. flat, closed, plane figure; can’t stand on its own.

2. 3-D; it can stand on its own

3. None of the above

 What is this figure
called?

1. Cone
2. Rectangular Prism
3. Cube
 What is this figure
called?

1. Sphere
2. Cube
3. Pyramid
 What is this part of the cylinder called?

1. Face
2. Edge
3. Vertex
 What is this part of the cone
called?

1. Face
2. Edge
3. Vertex
 What is this part of the cube
called?

1. Face
2. Edge
3. Vertex
Volume & Surface
Area
Section 6.2
Volume

 The volume is a measure of the space inside a solid

object.
 Volume is measure of 3 dimensions.
 The units of volume are cube length or length3.
 Example of volume units are cm3, cubic feet, cubic
meters or inches3.
Surface Area

 Surface area is the flat area on the surface of a three-

dimensional object.
 What you do is compute the area of all the sides of an
object and then add them up.
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What is a p r i s m?

It can even have a hole in

its cross section

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What is a p r i s m?

It can even have a hole in

its cross section

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 What is a p r i s m?

A prism is a 3-D shape that has the

same cross section all the way through

cross sectional area

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 Naming some Special Prisms

Pentagonal Cuboid Cylinder

Prism (rectangular prism) (circular prism)

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 Some other Prisms

Polygonal Totally Slanted Prism

Triangular
Prism Irregular or
Prism ©T
Prism Parallelepiped
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 Last Notes on Prisms
Base
s

h h

A Right Prism An Oblique or

Slanted Prism

Volume of any Prism:

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Cross-Sectional Area (Base) x Height s
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1 Layer = 16 cubes Area = 16 cm2
Volume = 16 x 5 Volume = 5 x 16
= 80 cubes = 80cm3
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1 Layer = 13 cubes Area = 13 cm2
Volume = 13 x 6 Volume = 6 x 13
= 78 cubes = 78 cm3
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Work out the volume of these prisms in cm3.

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Work out the volume of these prisms in cm3.

40 cm3

36 cm3 ©T
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 Method
EXAMPLE • Draw cross section
5 cm

4 cm
B

10 cm
7 cm

6 cm
A

12 cm

• Find cross - sectional area

10 cm

A : 6 x 12 = 72 cm2
B: 4x5= 20 cm2
Total : 92 cm2
6 cm

• Calculate Volume
Volume : 92 x 6 = 552 cm3
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 Method
EXAMPLE • Draw cross section
3m

3m
B
5m

9m
A

6m
8m

• Find cross - sectional area

9m
A : 6 x 8 = 48 m2
B: 3x3= 9 m2
6m

Total : 57 m2
• Calculate Volume
Volume : 57 x 12 = 684 m3
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 EXAMPLE Method
• Draw cross section

6 cm
4 cm

• Find cross - sectional area

4x6
= 12 cm2
2
6 cm

• Calculate Volume
Volume : 12 x 10 = 120 cm3
4 cm
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Triangular prism Mada

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 EXAMPLE Is there another way of
calculating the volume of
this prism?

Volume of the cuboid

4 x 10 x 6 = 240 cm3

Volume of the prism

6 cm

240 ÷ 2 =120 cm3

4 cm
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Triangular prism Mada

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 Method
EXAMPLE • Draw cross section
4 cm

5 cm
4 cm 10 cm

• Find cross - sectional area

5 cm

[10 + 4 ] x 5
= 35 cm2
2
10 cm

• Calculate Volume
Trapezoidal prism
Volume : 35 x 8 = 280 cm3
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 Method
EXAMPLE • Draw cross section
1m

1m
1m

1m
A
B 1m

1m
C
• Find cross - sectional area
A: 3x1= 3 m2
1m

B: 2x1= 2 m2
C: 1x1= 1 m2
1m

Total : 6 m2
1m

• Calculate Volume
Volume : 6 x 11© =
T
66 m3
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 Method
EXAMPLE • Draw cross section
1m 1m

A C

5m

6m
1m
B
8m

• Find cross - sectional area

5m

A : 5 x 1 = 5 m2
B : 8 x 1 = 8 m2
C : 5 x 1 = 5 m2
6m

Total : 18 m2

• Calculate Volume
Volume : 18 x 12
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= 216 m3
s
Calculate the volumes of the following prisms. 3
Drawing the prisms is not needed, but you must show all your workings
All measurements are in cm

1 2 5

1 15
4
5
4 6
10 4 12
1 2 7 6
2
4
5 4
1 2
7
6
2 6
7 15
4 9 10

1 8 2
6
5 6 8
7 5
5
5 ©T
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5 s 15
The volume of any prism

Cross sectional Area

V olume = Cross-sectional A rea x h eight

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 Cube
Definition:
A rectangular prism in which all faces are
congruent squares.
 Surface Area
Definition:
The sum of the areas of all of the faces of a
three-dimensional figure.

Ex. How much construction paper will I need

to fit on the outside of the shape?
 Surface area of a cube

How can we find the surface area of a cube of length 4cm?

All six faces of a cube have the same

area.

The area of each face is 4 × 4 = 16

Therefore,

4 Surface area of a cube = 16 x 6 = 96cm2

 VOLUME
PROBLEM SOLUTION
PROBLEM SOLUTION
PROBLEM SOLUTION
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 Regular Pyramids
A regular pyramid has a base which is always a regular polygon.
 The lateral faces all intersect at a point called the vertex and form
triangles.
 The altitude is a segment from the vertex perpendicular to the base.

 The slant height is the height of a lateral face.

vertex

altitude
Lateral side

Slant height

Base Lesson 9-2: Prisms & Pyramids 72

 Regular Pyramid
( p = perimeter of the base, l = slant height, B = base area)
The lateral area of a regular pyramid (L.A.)= ½ lp
Surface area of a regular pyramid (S.A.) = ½ lp + B
The volume of a right pyramid (V)= ⅓ Bh

Example: Perimeter = (2 x 10) + (2 x 10) = 40

13
Slant height l = 13 ; Height h = 12
Lateral area = ½ (13)(40) = 260 sq. units
12
Area of base = 10 x 10 = 100 sq. units
Surface area = 260 + 100 = 360 sq. units
10 Volume = ⅓ (100)(12) = 400 cubic units
10
Lesson 9-2: Prisms & Pyramids 73
Surface Area of a
Pyramid
 Pyramid Nets
A pyramid has 2
shapes:
One (1) square
&
Four (4) triangles
 Non-regular Pyramids
** To find the lateral area of a non-regular pyramid, find the
area of each face separately.
Find the slant height of the front face and the side face.
l2= 32 + 92 m2 = 52 + 92
l2= 9 + 81 = 90 m2 = 25 + 81 = 106
l = 9.4 m = 10.3
Area of front face = ½ (10)(9.4) = 47
m Area of side face = ½ (6)(10.3) = 30.9

Since the front and back faces are the same,

l and the two side faces are the same,
9 add the areas of the four faces.

Lateral area = 2(47) + 2(30.9) = 155.8

3 5 6 Continue with the formula for
10 surface area and volume.
Lesson 9-2: Prisms & Pyramids
Volume of Pyramids
Remember that Volume of a
Prism is B x h where b is
the area of the base.
You can see that Volume of
a pyramid will be less than
that of a prism.
How much less? Any
guesses?
Volume of a Pyramid:
V = (1/3) Area of the Base x height
V = (1/3) Bh
Volume of a Pyramid = 1/3 x
Volume of a Prism

+ + =
Find the volume of the square pyramid with
base edge length 9 cm and height 14 cm.

The base is a square with a side

length of 9 cm, and the height
is 14 cm.

V = 1/3 Bh
14 cm
= 1/3 (9 x 9)(14)
= 1/3 (81)(14)
= 1/3 (1134)
= 378 cm3
 Practice

V = 1/3 Bh
= 1/3 (5 x 5) (10)
= 1/3 (25)(10)
= 1/3 250
= 83.33 units3
Prism and Pyramids Formulas
 Prisms:
• Lateral Area: L.A. = ph (p = perimeter, h = height)
• Surface Area: S.A. = ph + 2B (B = area of base)
• Volume: V = Bh

 Regular Pyramids:
• Lateral Area: L.A. = ½ lp (p = perimeter, l = slant height)
• Surface Area: S.A. = ½ lp + B (B = area of base)
• Volume: V = ⅓ Bh ( B = area of base, h = height)

Lesson 9-2: Prisms & Pyramids 82

 EXAMPLE
PROBLEM
SOLUTION
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 The cylinder
• The volume of the cylinder is height of the cylinder times the area of
a circle. V = πr2h.
• The surface area of a cylinder has two parts. The ends are circles so
each circle has an area of πr2. The lateral surface can be thought of
as a rectangle wound into a circle. One side of the rectangle is h, the
other side is the circumference of the circle which is 2πr.
2πr

h h
 Example
For the cylinder shown, find the lateral area , surface area and
volume.
3 cm
L.A.= 2πr•h S.A.= 2•πr 2 + 2πr•h

4 cm
L.A.= 2π(3)•(4) S.A.= 2•π(3)2 + 2π(3)•(4)

L.A.= 24π sq. cm. S.A.= 18π +24π

S.A.= 42π sq. cm.
V = πr2•h
V = π(3)2•(4)
V = 36π

87
EXAMPLE

88
SOLUTION
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 Formulas: S.A. = π r ( r + l )
1 2
Cones V= r h
3
Cones are right pyramids with a circular base.
Therefore, the formulas for pyramids can be used for
cones.
Lateral Area (LA) = π r l, where l is the slant height.

Surface Area (SA) = B + LA = π r (r + l)

h l
The base area is the area of the circle: r
2

1 1 2
Volume (V) = Bh   r h r
3 3
Notice that the height (h) (altitude), the radius and the slant
height create a right triangle.
Lesson 9-3: Cylinders and Cones 91
 Example:
For the cone shown, find the lateral area surface area
and volume. S.A.= πr (r + l )
L.A.= πrl S.A.= π•6 (6 + 10)
62 +82 = l 2
S.A.= 6π (16)
8 10
L.A.= π(6)(10)
S.A.= 96π sq. cm.
L.A.= 60π sq. cm.
1 2
V  r h
3
6 cm
Note: We must use
the Pythagorean 1
theorem to find l. V    62  8 V= 96π cubic cm.
3
Lesson 9-3: Cylinders and Cones 92
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 Spheres
Definition:
In space, the set of all points that are a given distance
from a given point, called the center.

A sphere is formed by revolving a circle about its

diameter.

Lesson 9-4: Spheres 94

 Spheres – special segments & lines
Radius: A segment whose endpoints are the center of the
sphere and a point on the sphere.
Chord: A segment whose endpoints are on the sphere.
Diameter: A chord that contains the sphere’s center.
Tangent: A line that intersects the sphere in exactly one
point.
Diameter
Tangent
Chord
Radius
Lesson 9-4: Spheres 95
 Example 1A: Finding Volumes of Spheres

Find the volume of the sphere.

Give your answer in terms of .

Volume of a sphere.

= 2304 in3 Simplify.

 Example 1B: Finding Volumes of Spheres

Find the diameter of a sphere with volume

36,000 cm3.

Volume of a sphere.

Substitute 36,000 for V.

27,000 = r3
r = 30 Take the cube root of both sides.

d = 60 cm d = 2r
 Example 1C: Finding Volumes of Spheres

Find the volume of the hemisphere.

Volume of a hemisphere

Substitute 15 for r.

= 2250 m3 Simplify.
 Check It Out! Example 1

Find the radius of a sphere with volume 2304 ft3.

Volume of a sphere

Substitute for V.

r = 12 ft Simplify.
 Example 2: Sports Application

A sporting goods store sells exercise balls in two

sizes, standard (22-in. diameter) and jumbo (34-
in. diameter). How many times as great is the
volume of a jumbo ball as the volume of a
standard ball?
standard ball: jumbo ball:

A jumbo ball is about 3.7 times as great in volume

as a standard ball.
 Example 3A: Finding Surface Area of Spheres

Find the surface area of a sphere with diameter

76 cm. Give your answers in terms of .

S = 4r2 Surface area of a sphere

S = 4(38)2 = 5776 cm2

 Example 3B: Finding Surface Area of Spheres

Find the volume of a sphere with surface area

324 in2. Give your answers in terms of .

S = 4r2 Surface area of a sphere

324 = 4r2 Substitute 324 for S.
r=9 Solve for r.

Substitute 9 for r.

The volume of the sphere is 972 in2.

 Example 3C: Finding Surface Area of Spheres

Find the surface area of a

sphere with a great circle
that has an area of 49 mi2.
A = r2 Area of a circle

49 = r2 Substitute 49 for A.

r=7 Solve for r.

S = 4r2
= 4(7)2 = 196 mi2 Substitute 7 for r.
 Check It Out! Example 3

Find the surface area of the sphere.

S = 4r2 Surface area of a sphere

S = 4(25)2 Substitute 25 for r.
S = 2500 cm2
Example 4: Exploring Effects of Changing Dimensions

The radius of the sphere is

multiplied by . Describe the
effect on the volume.

original dimensions: radius multiplied by :

Notice that . If the radius is multiplied

by , the volume is multiplied by , or .
 Check It Out! Example 4

The radius of the sphere is

divided by 3. Describe the
effect on the surface area.

original dimensions: dimensions divided by 3:

S = 4r2 S = 4r2
= 4(3)2 = 36 m3 = 4(1)2 = 4 m3

The surface area is divided by 9.

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 Similar Solids and Ratios of
Areas
• If two similar solids have a scale factor of a : b, then
corresponding areas have a ratio of a2: b2.
• This applies to lateral area, surface area, or base area.
3.5

8 7 Ratio of sides = 2: 1 4

2
4 5
10
Surface Area = base + lateral Surface Area = base +
lateral
= 40 + 108 = 148 = 10 + 27 = 37
Ratio of surface areas: 148:37 = 4:1 = 22:
12 Lesson 9-5: Similar Solids 109
 Similar Solids and Ratios of
Volumes
• If two similar solids have a scale factor of a : b, then their
volumes have a ratio of a3 : b3.
9
6

15 Ratio of heights = 3:2

10

V = r2h =  (92) (15) = 1215 V= r2h = (62)(10) = 360

Ratio of volumes: 1215:360 = 27:8 = 33:

23 Lesson 9-5: Similar Solids 110
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 Quiz
Find the volume of each figure.

1. a rectangular pyramid with length 25

cm, width 17 cm, and height 21 cm

2. a triangular pyramid with base

edge length 12 in. a base altitude of
9 in. and height 10 in.
Find the volume of each solid to the nearest
tenth. Use

3 4.

5. triangular prism: base area = 24 ft2, height = 13 ft

6. What is the surface area of a square pyramid that has a base area of 100 feet
squared, a base perimeter of 40 feet, a height of 50 feet, and a slant height of 60
feet?

7. What is the volume of a triangular pyramid that has a base area of 200 feet
squared, a base perimeter of 60 feet, a height of 100 feet, and a slant height of 150
feet?

8. What is the volume of a cylinder with a height of 9 inches and a radius of 8

inches?

9. By how many cubic feet is a box with a height of 2 inches, a width of 6 inches, and a
depth of 1 inch greater than a cylinder with a height of 4 inches and a diameter of 6
inches?

10. Find the weight of the snowball 1.2 m in diameter if the wet compact snow of which
this ball is made weighs 480 kg/m3
11.

12
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