3D Maths
Rectangular Solid
A rectangular solid is a prism with a
rectangular base and edges that are perpendicular to its base.
All you need
to know is: the length (l), width (w) and height (h). These can be used to
determine the surface area, volume and diagonal length in the following way:
Volume
The formula for the volume of a rectangular solid just adds on
width to the volume of a rectangle:
Volume=lwh
Calculate the volume of the figure below in terms of x:
Just plug the values into the volume formula and you’re good to
go: V = (3x)(2x)(x)
= 6x3.
The surface area of a solid is the area of
its outermost skin. The surface area of a rectangular solid is made up of 6
rectangles: the sum of the areas of these six rectangles is the surface area of
the box. To make things even easier, the six rectangles come in three congruent
pairs. In the image below: One pair is transparent, one pair is light gray, and
one pair is a darker gray.
Two faces have areas of
l
w, two faces have areas of
l
h, and two faces have areas of
w
h. The surface area of the entire solid is the sum of the areas of the congruent pairs:
Diagonal Length
The diagonal of a rectangular solid is the line segment whose
endpoints are opposite corners of the solid. Every rectangular solid has four
diagonals, each with the same length, that connect each pair of opposite
vertices. Here’s one diagonal drawn in:
The formula for the length of a diagonal is:

Cubes
A cube is a square brought into 3-D. The length, width, and
height of a cube are equal, and each of its six faces is a square.
Volume
The formula for finding the volume of a cube is essentially the
same as the formula for the volume of a rectangular volume. However, since a
cube’s length, width, and height are all equal, the formula for the volume of a
cube is:
Volume= s3
... where s is the length of one
edge of the cube.
Surface Area of a
Cube
Since a cube is just a rectangular solid whose sides are all
equal, the formula for finding the surface area of a cube is the same as the
formula for finding the surface area of a rectangular solid, expect the s:
Diagonal Length
The formula for the diagonal of a cube is also adapted from the
formula for the diagonal length of a rectangular solid, with s substituted for l, w, and h.
Right Circular
Cylinders
A right circular cylinder has two connected congruent circular
bases and looks like this:

Volume of a Cylinder
The volume of a cylinder is
the product of the area of its base and its height: