Some examples of three-dimensional figures are rectangular solids, cubes, cylinders, spheres, pyramids, and cones. In this lesson, we look at some properties of rectangular solids and right circular cylinders.
A rectangular solid has six rectangular surfaces called faces, as shown in the figure below. Adjacent faces are perpendicular to each other. Each line segment that is the intersection of two faces is called an edge, and each point at which the edges intersect is called a vertex. There are 12 edges and 8 vertices.
The dimensions of a rectangular solid are the length l, the width w, and the height h.
A rectangular solid with six square faces is called a cube, in which case l = w =h.
The volume, V, of a rectangular solid is the product of its three dimensions, or
V = lwh
The surface area, A, of a rectangular solid is the sum of the areas of the six faces, or
A = 2(lw + lh + wh)
This video shows how to calculate the volume and surface area of a rectangular solid.
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