SAT Math : Cubes

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for SAT Math

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Example Questions

Example Question #1 : How To Find The Surface Area Of A Cube

A certain cube has a side length of 25 m.  How many square tiles, each with an area of 5 m2, are needed to fully cover the surface of the cube?

Possible Answers:

200

1000

100

750

500

Correct answer:

750

Explanation:

A cube with a side length of 25m has a surface area of:

25m * 25m * 6 = 3,750 m2

(The surface area of a cube is equal to the area of one face of the cube multiplied by 6 sides. In other words, if the side of a cube is s, then the surface area of the cube is 6s2.)

Each square tile has an area of 5 m2.

Therefore, the total number of square tiles needed to fully cover the surface of the cube is:

3,750m2/5m= 750

Note: the volume of a cube with side length s is equal to s3.  Therefore, if asked how many mini-cubes with side length n are needed to fill the original cube, the answer would be:

s3/n3

Example Question #11 : Cubes

A company wants to build a cubical room around a cone so that the cone's height and diameter are 3 inch less than the dimensions of the cube. If the volume of the cone is 486π ft3, what is the surface area of the cube?

Possible Answers:

73,926 in2

69,984 in2

513.375 in2

486 in2

726 in2

Correct answer:

73,926 in2

Explanation:

To begin, we need to solve for the dimensions of the cone.

The basic form for the volume of a cone is: V = (1/3)πr2h

Using our data, we know that h = 2r because the height of the cone matches its diameter (based on the prompt).

486π  = (1/3)πr* 2r = (2/3)πr3

Multiply both sides by (3/2π): 729 = r3

Take the cube root of both sides: r = 9

Note that this is in feet. The answers are in square inches. Therefore, convert your units to inches: 9 * 12 = 108, then add 3 inches to this: 108 + 3 = 111 inches.

The surface area of the cube is defined by: A = 6 * s2, or for our data, A = 6 * 1112 = 73,926 in2

Example Question #1 : How To Find Surface Area

If the volume of a cube is 216 cubic units, then what is its surface area in square units?

Possible Answers:

54

64

108

36

216

Correct answer:

216

Explanation:

The volume of a cube is given by the formula V = s^{3}, where V is the volume, and s is the length of each side. We can set V to 216 and then solve for s.

\inline 216 = s^{3}

In order to find s, we can find the cube root of both sides of the equaton. Finding the cube root of a number is the same as raising that number to the one-third power.

\sqrt[3]{216}= 216^{1/3}=6=s

This means the length of the side of the cube is 6. We can use this information to find the surface area of the cube, which is equal to \inline 6s^{2}. The formula for surface area comes from the fact that each face of the cube has an area of s^2, and there are 6 faces in a cube.

surface area = 6s^{2}=6(6^{2})=6(36)=216

The surface area of the square is 216 square units.

The answer is 216.

Example Question #1 : How To Find The Surface Area Of A Cube

You have a cube with sides of 4.5 inches. What is the surface area of the cube?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

The area of one side of the cube is:

A cube has 6 sides, so the total surface area of the cube is

Example Question #1 : How To Find Surface Area

A cube has a surface area of 24. If we double the height of the cube, what is the volume of the new rectangular box?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

We have a cube with a surface area of 24, which means each side has an area of 4. Therefore, the length of each side is 2. If we double the height, the volume becomes .

Example Question #1 : How To Find The Surface Area Of A Cube

A cube has a surface area of 10m2. If a cube's sides all double in length, what is the new surface area?

Possible Answers:

320m2

80m2

40m2

20m2

640m2

Correct answer:

40m2

Explanation:

The equation for surface area of the original cube is 6s2. If the sides all double in length the new equation is 6(2s)2 or 6 * 4s2. This makes the new surface area 4x that of the old. 4x10 = 40m2

Example Question #1 : How To Find The Surface Area Of A Cube

What is the surface area of a cube with a side length of 30?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

Write the formula for the surface area of a cube.

Substitute the side.

Example Question #8 : How To Find The Surface Area Of A Cube

The surface areas of six cubes form an arithmetic sequence. The two smallest cubes have sidelengths 10 and 12, respectively. Give the surface area of the largest cube.

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

The surface area of a cube can be calculated by squaring the sidelength and multiplying by six. The two smallest cubes therefore have surface areas

and

The surface areas form an arithmetic sequence with these two surface areas as the first two terms, so their common difference is 

.

The surface area of the largest, or sixth-smallest, cube, is

Example Question #11 : Cubes

Find the surface area of a cube with side length 2.

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

To solve, simply use the formula for the surface area of a cube. Thus,

Example Question #21 : Solid Geometry

Find the surface area of a cube given side length of 3.

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

To find the surface area of a cube means to find the area around the entire object. In the case of a cube, we will need to find that area of all the sides and the top and bottom. Since a cube has equal side lengths, the area of each side and the area of the top and bottom will all be the same.

Recall that the area for a side of a cube is:

From here there are two approaches one can take.

Approach one:

Add all the areas together.

Approach two:

Use the formula for the surface area of a cube,

In this particular case we are given the side length is 3.

Thus we can find the surface area to be,

by approach one,

and by appraoch two,

.

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