Prisms
A prism is the solid shape you get if you move a triangle through space. A prism has five planes: a top, a bottom, and three sides.
To figure out the surface area of a prism, calculate the surface area of each side and add them together. Three of the sides are rectangles, and two of them are triangles. The three rectangles are congruent (that means they're the same size) and the two triangles are congruent (also the same size).
To figure out the volume of a prism, think of the prism as a rectanglar solid sliced in half. So you multiply the length by the height by the thickness, and then divide the result in half.
One useful thing that is in the shape of a prism is a camping tent. Why might you need to know the volume of a tent? The attic of a house might also be in the shape of a triangular prism.
Main Geometry page
To find out more about geometry, check out these books from Amazon.com or from your library:
