ntroduction to surface area and volume

Definition: Surface area is the total area of all the surfaces (faces) of a 3D object.

Units: Measured in square units (e.g., cm², m²).

  • Cube: 6a2 (where ‘a’ is the length of one side).
  • Rectangular Prism: 2lw + 2lh + 2wh (where ‘l’ is length, ‘w’ is width, and ‘h’ is height).
  • Cylinder: 2πr2 + 2πrh (where ‘r’ is the radius and ‘h’ is the height).
  • Sphere: 4πr2 (where ‘r’ is the radius).
  • Cone: πr (r+l) (where ‘r’ is the radius and ‘l’ is the slant height).

Definition: Volume is the amount of space occupied by a 3D object.

Units: Measured in cubic units (e.g., cm³, m³).

  • Cube: a3 (where ‘a’ is the side length).
  • Rectangular Prism: l × w × h (where ‘l’ is length, ‘w’ is width, and ‘h’ is height).
  • Cylinder: πr2h (where ‘r’ is the radius and ‘h’ is the height).
  • Sphere: 4/3 πr3 (where ‘r’ is the radius).
  • Cone: 1/3 πr2h (where ‘r’ is the radius and ‘h’ is the height).
  • Surface area and volume are both essential in understanding the size and shape of an object.
  • While surface area refers to the outer covering, volume deals with the internal space.
  • In certain cases, like in optimization problems, there’s a relationship where increasing surface area leads to an increase in volume (e.g., in packing or maximizing efficiency).
  • Surface Area: Important in cases like determining the amount of material needed to cover an object (paint, wrapping paper, etc.).
  • Volume: Useful for calculating the capacity of containers (like swimming pools, water tanks, etc.) or the amount of space an object occupies.

Understanding the geometric properties of shapes and how dimensions affect surface area and volume is fundamental to solving real-world problems in various fields, including architecture, engineering, and design.

Learn with an example

______ square metres.

Each face of the cube is a square with sides that are 9 metres long.

Find the area of one face:

area=side . side

=9 . 9

=81

The area of each face is 81 square metres. There are 6 faces. Multiply:

surface area=6 . 81

=486

The surface area of the cube is 486 square metres.

 ——cubic millimetres.

Find the length, width, and height of the rectangular prism.

length: 6 mm
width: 9 mm
height: 4 mm

Use these numbers in the formula.

volume=length . width . height

=6 . 9 . 4

=216

The volume is 216 cubic millimetres.

——cubic millimetres.

Each side of the cube is 4 millimetres long. Use the number 4 in the formula.

volume=side . side . side

=4 .4 . 4

=64

The volume is 64 cubic millimetres.

Let’s practice!