Printable · GCSE Foundation · ages 14-16
Properties of 3D shapes worksheet — GCSE Foundation
Fifteen questions on "properties of 3d shapes" — DfE statement G12. Print it, or print three versions so neighbours cannot copy by letter; the key gives the letter for each version.
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Answer key: Properties of 3D shapes worksheet — GCSE Foundation
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- (d) 8 — A cuboid is a 3D shape with 6 rectangular faces, 12 edges and 8 vertices (corners). Counting the corners of a cuboid gives 8. A candidate who mixes up vertices with faces answers 6. A candidate who mixes up vertices with edges answers 12. A candidate who counts only the 4 corners of the top face, forgetting the 4 corners of the bottom face, answers 4. The correct number of vertices is 8.
- (d) Cylinder — Method: check how many faces are flat and how many are curved, and how many flat faces there are. Working: this solid has a curved surface joining two flat circular faces of equal size, which is exactly a cylinder. A student who answers cone has forgotten a cone has only one flat circular face, not two. A student who answers sphere has forgotten a sphere has no flat faces at all. A student who answers triangular prism has spotted that the solid has two identical end faces but has taken those ends to be triangles rather than circles, and a prism's side faces are flat rectangles, not one curved surface. Answer: cylinder.
- (d) 0 — A vertex is a sharp corner point where edges meet. A cylinder has two curved, circular edges but no sharp corner points at all, so it has 0 vertices, making that the correct answer. '2' wrongly treats the two circular edges themselves as vertices, but an edge is not the same as a vertex. '4' overcounts by treating each circular edge as if it had two end-vertices, which does not apply to a continuous curved edge. '1' wrongly imagines the curved surface itself forming a single corner point, which it does not.
- (a) Triangular prism — Count the given properties against each solid. A triangular prism has 5 faces (2 triangular ends + 3 rectangular sides), 9 edges and 6 vertices — this matches exactly, so the solid is a triangular prism. A square-based pyramid also has 5 faces, but 8 edges and 5 vertices, and only one face is a square rather than three rectangles — the edge and vertex counts don't match. A cuboid has 6 faces, 12 edges and 8 vertices, none of which match the numbers given. A tetrahedron has 4 faces, all triangles, with 6 edges and 4 vertices — too few faces, and no rectangular faces at all.
- (c) 1 — Method: the instruction states that a curved surface counts as a face, so count the surfaces of the sphere on that basis. Working: a sphere has exactly one continuous curved surface and no flat surfaces at all. A student who answers 0 has ignored the instruction and refused to count the curved surface. A student who answers 2 has confused the sphere with a cylinder, which has two flat circular faces. A student who answers 3 has imagined extra hidden surfaces that do not exist. Answer: 1 face.
- (a) 2 — A cone has one flat face — the circular base — and one curved surface, which is counted as a single face. That gives a total of 2 faces. A candidate who forgets the circular base and counts only the curved surface answers 1. A candidate who mistakenly splits the curved surface into two faces answers 3. A candidate who thinks a cone has no flat faces at all answers 0. The correct number of faces is 2.
- (d) 5 — A square-based pyramid has four vertices at the corners of the square base, plus one more vertex at the apex where the four triangular faces meet: 4 + 1 = 5 vertices. Choosing 8 counts the edges instead of the vertices. Choosing 4 counts only the base corners and forgets the apex at the top. Choosing 6 is the vertex count of a triangular prism, not a square-based pyramid.
- (a) 9 — A cube has 9 planes of symmetry in total: 3 that pass through the middles of pairs of opposite faces, and 6 more that pass through pairs of opposite edges diagonally. A candidate who counts only the 3 face-to-face planes — which is correct for a cuboid with three different edge lengths, but forgets that a cube's equal edges create 6 more diagonal planes — answers 3. A candidate who counts only the 6 diagonal planes and forgets the 3 face-to-face ones answers 6. A candidate who confuses the number of planes of symmetry with the number of edges on a cube answers 12. The correct total for a cube is 9.
- (c) 2 — A cylinder has 3 faces in total: 1 curved surface and 2 flat circular faces, the base and the lid. The label covers only the curved surface, leaving the base and the lid uncovered — that is 2 faces. A candidate who forgets one of the two flat faces answers 1. A candidate who mistakenly splits the curved surface into two separate uncovered faces and then adds the 2 flat faces answers 4. A candidate who assumes the label covers the whole tin answers 0. The number of faces not covered by the label is 2.
- (d) A prism — A prism has two identical, parallel polygon faces (its cross-section) joined by flat rectangular side faces, so the same cross-sectional shape runs all the way along its length — this description matches a prism. A pyramid instead narrows from one polygon base up to a single point (the apex), so it does not have two identical parallel faces. A cone has one curved surface and a single circular base narrowing to a point — no flat rectangular sides at all. A cylinder has two identical circular faces, but they are joined by a curved surface, not by flat rectangles.
- (b) No, it needs one more square — A closed cube has exactly 6 faces, so its net must be made of exactly 6 identical squares, arranged so each one unfolds to a separate face with none overlapping. This net has only 5 squares, so it is one square short and cannot be folded into a closed cube. Choosing 'Yes, it folds into a cube' ignores that a cube needs 6 faces, not 5. Choosing 'No, it has one square too many' miscounts in the wrong direction — 5 is one too FEW, not one too many. Choosing 'Yes, but only if two squares overlap' is not a valid net: a net's faces must not overlap when folded.
- (a) 5 — Method: add the two triangular end faces to the three rectangular side faces. Working: 2 triangular faces + 3 rectangular faces = 5 faces in total. A student who answers 6 has confused this with a cuboid's face count. A student who answers 9 has counted the edges instead of the faces. A student who answers 3 has only counted the rectangular faces and forgotten the two triangular ends. Answer: 5 faces.
- (a) 8 — A cylinder has two flat circular faces (the top and the base) and one curved surface, so only its 2 flat faces are wrapped. A cuboid has 6 faces and all of them are flat, so all 6 are wrapped. Adding these: 2 + 6 = 8, so 8 is correct. 9 comes from wrongly counting the cylinder's curved surface as a flat face. 6 comes from counting only the cuboid and forgetting the cylinder's two flat circular faces. 3 comes from counting only the cylinder and including its curved surface in that total.
- (d) 12 — Method: rearrange F + V − E = 2 so that E is on its own: E = F + V − 2. Working: E = 6 + 8 − 2 = 12. A student who answers 14 has added F and V but forgotten to subtract 2 at all. A student who answers 16 has added 2 instead of subtracting it. A student who answers 10 has subtracted 2 twice by mistake. Answer: 12 edges.
- (c) 6 — A cuboid has six flat faces: a top, a bottom and four sides. Count each flat surface once: top, bottom, front, back, left, right — six faces in total, so the answer is 6. Choosing 8 counts the vertices (corners) instead of the faces. Choosing 12 counts the edges instead of the faces. Choosing 4 counts only the four side faces and forgets the top and the bottom.
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