G12a – Properties of 3D shapes

This page contains interactive nets of the polyhedra shown below as well as an image of a sphere. See also lesson G1b: 3D Geometry – terms and notation, which introduces key words like faces, vertices, edges and curved surfaces as well as the names all the key shapes.

Cube

A cube has 8 vertices, 12 edges and 6 faces.

With thanks to azb, whose nets of a cube worksheet is available here. Material modified and embedded here under the CC-BY-SA 3.0 license.

Cuboid

A cuboid has 8 vertices, 12 edges and 6 faces.

With thanks to Mark Willis, whose The net of a cuboid worksheet is available here. Material modified and embedded here under the CC-BY-SA 3.0 license.

Triangular prism

A triangular prism has 6 vertices, 9 edges and 6 faces.

With thanks to Tok Hong Da, whose Net and surface area of a triangular prism worksheet is available here. Material modified and embedded here under the CC-BY-SA 3.0 license.

Tetrahedron or triangle-based pyramid

A tetrahedron has 4 vertices, 6 edges and 4 faces.

With thanks to Anthony OR 柯志明, whose Nets of Tetrahedron worksheet is available here. Material modified and embedded here under the CC-BY-SA 3.0 license.

Square-based pyramid

A square-based pyramid has 5 vertices, 8 edges and 5 faces.

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With thanks to Celia Jimenez, whose Folding Nets of a Pyramid worksheet is available here. Material modified and embedded here under the CC-BY-SA 3.0 license.

Cylinder

A solid cylinder has 0 vertices, 2 circular faces and 1 curved surface.

With thanks to the Geogebra Materials Team, whose Nets of a cone worksheet is available here. Material modified and embedded here under the CC-BY-SA 3.0 license.

Cone

A solid cone has 1 vertex (called the apex), 1 circular face and 1 curved surface.

Note that the net of a cone is made up of a circle (which forms the base of the cone) and a sector of a circle. Notice how the sector angle can change as you vary the radius or the height of the cone.
With thanks to the Geogebra Materials Team, whose Nets of a cone worksheet is available here. Material modified and embedded here under the CC-BY-SA 3.0 license.

Sphere

A solid sphere has 0 vertices, 0 edges, 0 faces, but it has 1 curved surface.

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Links to past exam questions

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