Unit 10: SOLID GEOMETRY

This unit will show you how to:

 Identify the regular polyhedra and the dual polyhedra

 Construct truncated polyhedra
 Find the planes of symmetry of a solid
 Find the rotation axes of a solid
 Calculate the area of the polyhedra and the solids of revolution
 Calculate the volume of the polyhedra and the solids of revolution
 Find the geographic coordinates of the places
 Calculate the time in different time zones

Keywords
polyhedron solids of revolution
dual polyhedron geographic coordinates
truncated polyhedron latitude
plane of symmetry longitude
rotation axis time zone

10.1.- SOLID GEOMETRY

Solid Geometry is the geometry of three-dimensional space, the kind of space
we live in.

It is called three-dimensional, or 3D because there are three dimensions: width,

depth and height.

F. Cano Cuenca 1 Mathematics 3º ESO

10.2.- POLYHEDRA
A polyhedron is a solid with flat faces (from Greek poly- meaning “many” and –
edron meaning “face”)

Each face is a polygon.

Examples:

Cube Triangular Prism Dodecahedron

Regular polyhedra
A regular polyhedron is a polyhedron where

 the faces are identical polygons,

 the same number of polygons meet at each vertex (corner).

There are five regular polyhedra, also known as the Platonic Solids:

Tetrahedron Cube Octahedron

4 faces that are equilateral 6 faces that are squares 8 faces that are equilateral
triangles. triangles.

Dodecahedron Icosahedron
12 faces that are regular 20 faces that are equilateral
pentagons. triangles.

F. Cano Cuenca 2 Mathematics 3º ESO

Dual polyhedra

If you join the centres of each If you join the centres of each
pair of contiguous faces in a pair of contiguous faces in an
cube, you get an octahedron. octahedron, you get a cube.

That is the reason why we the cube and the octahedron are called dual
polyhedra.

The number of faces of a polyhedron is the same as the number of vertexes of

its dual. And both have the same number of edges.

CUBE OCTAHEDRON
FACES 6 8
VERTEXES 8 6
EDGES 12 12

The dual of a dodecahedron is the icosahedron.

And the tetrahedron is self-dual.

F. Cano Cuenca 3 Mathematics 3º ESO

Euler’s polyhedron formula
For any simple polyhedron (without cavities), the number of faces plus the
number of vertices minus the number of edges always equal 2.

This can be written:

F V E  2
Exercise 1

Complete the following table with the number of faces, vertices and edges of
the five regular polyhedra.

TETR. CUBE OCT. DODEC. ICOS.

FACES
VERTEXES
EDGES

a) Check that the five regular polyhedral follow Euler’s formula.

b) Check that the dodecahedron and the icosahedron have the conditions of
the dual polyhedral.
c) Check that the tetrahedron has the conditions of being self-dual.

Semiregular polyhedra
A semiregular polyhedron is a polyhedron where

 the faces are regular polygons of two or more types

 the same polygons meet at each vertex.

Examples:

Pentagonal Antiprism
Regular Pentagonal Prism whose
1 pentagon and 3 equilateral
lateral faces are squares triangles meet at each vertex

F. Cano Cuenca 4 Mathematics 3º ESO

Exercise 2

Is the following statement true or false? Why?

“The edges of a semiregular polyhedron must be equal”

10.3.- TRUNCATED POLYHEDRA

Truncating a polyhedron means that the corners (or the edges) are cut off.

Starting with regular polyhedral and symmetrically slicing away the corners we
get some semiregular polyhedral.

Examples:

TETRAHEDRON TRUNCATED TETRAHEDRON

If we remove the four corners in such a way that the original triangular faces of
the tetrahedron became regular hexagons, the result is the truncated
tetrahedron.

The truncated tetrahedron is a semiregular polyhedron with four equilateral

triangles and four regular hexagons.

F. Cano Cuenca 5 Mathematics 3º ESO

CUBE TRUNCATED CUBE

If we remove the four corners in such a way that the original square faces of
the cube became regular octagons, the result is the truncated cube.

The truncated cube is a semiregular polyhedron

with eight equilateral triangles and six regular
octagons.

Other type of truncation:

To cut off the corners with planes that pass through the midpoints of adjacent
edges:

Examples:

CUBE CUBE OCTAHEDRON

DODECAHEDRON ICOSIDODECAHEDRON

F. Cano Cuenca 6 Mathematics 3º ESO

Exercise 3

Describe the truncated octahedron. (Faces, types. Vertexes. Edges).

Exercise 4

Use your knowledge about the icosahedron in order to describe the truncated
icosahedron. (Faces, types. Vertexes. Edges).

The truncated icosahedron (left) compared to a football

10.4.- PLANES OF SYMMETRY OF A SHAPE

Most of the animals are symmetric with respect to a plane

that cut them in two equal parts.

A lot of geometric shapes also have a plane of symmetry.

And some of them have more than one.

A plane of symmetry divides a 3-D shape into two congruent halves that are
mirror images of each other.

F. Cano Cuenca 7 Mathematics 3º ESO

Planes of symmetry of a cube
A cube has 9 planes of symmetry. Three of them run parallel to the faces of the
cube, and the other six run diagonally from one edge to the opposite edge.

Planes of symmetry of a prism

An equilateral triangular based prism has 4 planes of symmetry: three of them
run through the axis of symmetry of the bases and the four one runs parallel to
the bases.

Exercise 5

How many planes of symmetry does the tetrahedron have? Describe them.

Exercise 6

Draw a regular hexagonal prism. How many planes of symmetry does it have? And
how many planes of symmetry does the regular hexagonal pyramid have?

Exercise 7

How many planes of symmetry does the cylinder have? And a cone? And a
sphere?

F. Cano Cuenca 8 Mathematics 3º ESO

10.5.- ROTATION AXES OF A SHAPE

Axis of rotation is a line about which a three-dimensional

object is rotated in space.

A shape has rotational symmetry when it still looks the same

after a rotation.

The number of times the shape matches itself when we go once around is called
the order of the axis.

Looking at the picture above, when we rotate the cube 360° about the axis,
notice that the cube will match itself for 4 times. Therefore, the order of this
axis is 4.

More examples:

A starfish has rotational The London Eye has order

symmetry of order 5. …oops, I lost count!

Axes of rotation of a cube

The cube has a total 13 axes of rotational symmetry:

Three axes of order 4 Four axes of order 3 Six axes of order 2

If you want to see all of them, click here.

F. Cano Cuenca 9 Mathematics 3º ESO

Axes of rotation of a tetrahedron
The tetrahedron has a total of 7 axes of rotational symmetry.

Four axes of order 3 Three axes of order 2

If you want to see all of them, click here.

Exercise 8

How many axes of rotational symmetry does the square prism have? What is the
order of those axes?

Exercise 9

How many axes of rotational symmetry does the square pyramid have? What is
the order of those axes?

10.6.- AREA OF THE POLYHEDRA AND THE SOLIDS OF

REVOLUTION

Area of a polyhedron
The area of a polyhedron is the sum of the areas of its faces.

The net of the polyhedron (that is, the pattern that you can cut and fold to
make a model of it) makes this process easier.

F. Cano Cuenca 10 Mathematics 3º ESO

Area of a cylinder
The lateral area of a cylinder is the area of a rectangle whose base is the
perimeter of the circle, 2r , and whose height, h, is the height of the cylinder.

Alateral  2r  h
Atotal  2r  h  2r2
Abase  r 2

Area of a cone
The lateral area of a cone is the area of the circle sector whose radius is the
generatrix of the cone and the length of the arc is the perimeter of the circle.

g g

r
r

Alateral  rg
Atotal  rg  r2
Abase  r 2

F. Cano Cuenca 11 Mathematics 3º ESO

Area of a truncated cone

Alateral   r1  r2  g
g

Atotal   r1  r2  g  r12  r22

Areas in the sphere

The area of a sphere is equal to the lateral area of its circumscribed cylinder,
which is the smallest cylinder that can contain the sphere.

Asphere  2r  2r  4r2

In fact, if we enclose a sphere in a cylinder and cut out a spherical segment by

slicing twice perpendicularly to the cylinder’s axis, then the lateral area of the
spherical segment is equal to the lateral area cut out of the cylinder by the
same slicing planes.

r
S1  S2  2r  h

These facts were discovered by the Greek philosopher Archimedes.

Aspherical skullcap  2r  h

Aspherical zone  2r  h'

F. Cano Cuenca 12 Mathematics 3º ESO

Exercise 10

Find the area of the following polyhedral (all of then come from a cube whose
edge is 12 cm).

Exercise 11

Find the area of the prism and the area of the pyramid. Their base is a regular
hexagon.

Exercise 12

Find the area of the following solids.

Exercise 13

Find the area of the following solids.

F. Cano Cuenca 13 Mathematics 3º ESO

Exercise 14

Find the area of the following solids (B and C are got from A).

Exercise 15

The diameter of a sphere is 30 cm. Find the areas of:

a) A spherical zone whose height is 6 cm.

b) A spherical skullcap whose base has a radius which is 12 cm.

10.7.- VOLUME OF THE POLYHEDRA AND THE SOLIDS OF

REVOLUTION

Volume of prisms and cylinders

The volume of a solid which has two equal and parallel bases is equal to the
product of the area of the base and the height.

V  Abase  h V  Abase  h    r2  h

F. Cano Cuenca 14 Mathematics 3º ESO

Volume of pyramids and cones
The volume of either a pyramid or a cone is equal to one third of the product of
the area of the base and the height.

1 1
V A h V   r2  h
3 base 3

Volume of the sphere

The volume of the sphere whose radius is R is:

4
V   R3
3

Notice that the volume of the sphere is equal to two thirds of the volume of the
circumscribed cylinder:

4 3
Vsphere  R
3

Vcylinder  R2  2R  2R3

4 3 2 2
Vsphere 
3
 
R  2R3  Vcylinder
3 3

F. Cano Cuenca 15 Mathematics 3º ESO

And one more interesting relationship:

2 3 1 3 
R  R R3
3 3

The volume of a hemisphere whose radius is R plus the volume of the cone whose
radius and height are R is equal to the volume of the cylinder whose radius and
height are R.

Volume of the spherical segment

The previous relationship between the volumes of the hemisphere, cone and
cylinder also works with the corresponding portions determined by two parallel
planes.

 

Volume of the portion

of the sphere
 Volume of the
truncated cone
 Volume of the portion
of the cylinder

Exercise 16

Find the volume of the prism and the volume of the pyramid. Their base is a
regular hexagon.

Exercise 17

Find the volume of the inscribed sphere in a cylinder whose height is 1 m.

F. Cano Cuenca 16 Mathematics 3º ESO

Exercise 18

Find the volume of the following solids.

Exercise 19

Find the volume of the following truncated cone and truncated pyramid.

Exercise 20

A sphere is cut by two parallel planes. One of then passes through the centre
and the other one is 12 m from the centre.

Find the volume of the three parts the sphere has been divided into.

Exercise 21

Three identical tennis balls are stacked in a cylindrical container whose diameter
is 6.6 cm. Calculate the volume of the empty part of this container.

F. Cano Cuenca 17 Mathematics 3º ESO

10.8.- THE GEOGRAPHIC COORDINATE SYSTEM
A series of imaginary vertical and horizontal lines enables us to identify the
exact location of places on Earth.

Meridians are semicircles which go from one pole to the other. The Prime
Meridian, or Greenwich meridian (0°), is the point of reference for other
meridians.

Parallels are circles which are perpendicular to the meridians. The Equator (0°)
is the most important parallel and is the point of reference for the other
parallels. The Equator divides the Earth in two hemispheres: Northern
Hemisphere and Southern Hemisphere.

Geographic coordinates
The most well known coordinate system is the Geographic Coordinate System
(GCS), which uses measures of longitude and latitude to determine your
locations.

Longitude and latitude are angles that define points on the Earth.

Lines of longitude run east and west parallel

to the Prime Meridian.
Longitude varies from 0° at Greenwich to 180°
East and West.

Lines of latitude run north and south parallel

to the Equator.
Latitude varies from 0° at the Equator to 90°
North and South at the poles.

F. Cano Cuenca 18 Mathematics 3º ESO

The longitude of a point P on the Earth is defined as the angle that the plane
containing the meridian passing through P subtends with respect to the plane
containing the prime meridian.

Latitude is defined with respect to an equatorial reference plane. This plane

passes through the centre C of the Earth and also contains the Equator.

The latitude of a point P on the Earth is defined as the angle that a straight
line, passing through both P and C, subtends with respect to the equatorial plane.

Look at this example: the point P is 60° E 40° N.

Greenwich
Meridian P

Equator

Exercise 22

Two cities are on the Equator and the difference between their longitudes is
10°. What is the distance between them? (The radius of the Earth is 6371 km).

F. Cano Cuenca 19 Mathematics 3º ESO

Exercise 23

The geographic coordinates of Saint Petersburg are 60° N 30° E, and the
coordinates of Oslo are 60° N 11° E. Find the length of the arc of the parallel
that goes from one to another.

Time zones
As the Earth rotates on its axis, the Sun shines
on only one part of the Earth at a time. While
the sun shines where you live, it’s nighttime
somewhere else.

So for “Midday” to be close to the middle of the day, the world has to be
divided into different time zones (regions where the same standard time is
kept).

Times zones are based on the fact that the Earth moves 15° longitude each
hour. Since there are 24 hours in a day there are 24 standard time zones.

24 hours  15  360

Time zones are counted from the Prime Meridian (0° longitude). Each time zone
is counted at 15° intervals and extends 7.5° either side of a central meridian.
For example, Sydney lies in the 150° E central meridian, and the time zone
includes all location between 142.5° and 157°.

We subtract one hour for each zone time We add one hour for each zone time
we go to the West we go to the Est

to the Est

F. Cano Cuenca 20 Mathematics 3º ESO

Example:

If it is 14:00 in Bilbao (longitude 3° W), what time is it in Istanbul (longitude 29° E)?

B I

-7° 30’ 0° 7° 30’ 15° 22° 30’ 30° 37° 30’

Istanbul is two time zones to the East from Bilbao.

Therefore, it is two more hours in Istanbul than in Bilbao.

It is 16:00 in Istanbul.

Exercise 24

Jim is doing a volunteer project in Nairobi (36.82° E). His team is waiting for his
18 hour flight from Philadelphia to arrive. However, his flight has been delayed 2
hours.

If he left Philadelphia (75.16° W) at 06:00 AM on Wednesday, what time and

day can his team expect his flight to arrive now?

Exercise 25

A snowboarder raced in Sochi (39.73° E) at 08:35 AM, and the race lasted 2
hours and 45 minutes. What time did her family in Las Vegas (115.14° W) start
and end watching her race?

F. Cano Cuenca 21 Mathematics 3º ESO