In this topic, you will explore how to find the surface area, lateral area, and volume of prisms and cylinders. You will learn how the net of a three-dimensional figure can help you find the surface area and volume of a prism or cylinder. Your prior knowledge of right triangles will help solve some of the problems presented in this topic.

Essential Questions

• How do you find the surface area, lateral area, or volume of a cylinder?
• How do you find the surface area, lateral area, or volume of a prism?
  

 

Warm-Up

Before you explore cylinders and prisms, see if you can use your prior knowledge to sketch three figures. Can you sketch a rectangular prism? How about a triangular prism? What does a cylinder look like? Take a moment to sketch all three of these figures before you learn more about each figure in this topic.