What are 3D shapes?

3D shapes are shapes with three dimensions, such as width, height and depth. An example of a 3D shape is a prism or a sphere. 3D shapes are multidimensional and can be physically held.

What does 3D mean

3D in 3D shapes stands for 3-dimensional. We normally talk about dimensions as measurements in a direction. Examples of dimensions include length, width or breadth, depth and height.

What are the properties of 3D shapes?

The properties of 3D shapes are their faces, edges and vertices which all have specific meanings.

What is a face?

A face is a flat surface to a 3D object. For example a square based prism has 5 faces. A sphere has 1 curved surface but no face.

What is an edge?

An edge is where two line segments or faces meet. A cylinder has 2 edges.

What are vertices?

Vertices are where two lines or edges meet; in maths we refer to the corners of 3D shapes as vertices. The singular of vertices is actually vertex which can be a bit confusing. A cone has one vertex, and a cube has 4 vertices.

3D shapes names

These are the names of the 3D shapes:

• Sphere
• Hemisphere
• Cone
• Tetrahedron or Triangular-based pyramid
• Cylinder
• Triangular prism
• Hexagonal prism
• Pentagonal prism
• Cube
• Cuboid

Properties of 3D shapes

As well as the names, children need to know the properties of 3D shapes as listed below and in the printable table.

• A sphere has 1 curved surface.
• A hemisphere has 1 face, 1 curved surface and 1 edge.
• A cone has 1 face, 1 curved surface, 1 edge and 1 vertex.
• A tetrahedron, or triangular-based pyramid, has 4 faces, 6 edges and 4 vertices.
• A square-based pyramid has 5 faces, 8 edges and 5 vertices.
• A cylinder has 2 faces, 1 curved surface and 2 edges.

Prisms

• A triangular prism has 5 faces, 9 edges and 6 vertices.
• A cube has 6 faces, 12 edges and 8 vertices.
• A cuboid has 6 faces, 12 edges and 8 vertices.
• A pentagonal prism has 7 faces, 15 edges and 10 vertices.
• A hexagonal prism has 8 faces, 18 edges and 12 vertices.