Volume and Surface Area

The volume of any prism – including a cuboid and a cylinder – is worked out by calculating the area of the cross-section, and multiplying it by the length.  Here’s some examples.

To work out the surface area of a cylinder, you should think about what the net of a cylinder looks like (see left).  A cylinder’s surface is made up of two circles (the top and base) and a rectangle. The width of the rectangle of the circumference of the circles at each end. The formula below shows the full method for calculating the surface area of a cylinder.  You don’t need to learn the formula as you can work it out yourself.