Cubes - ISEE Upper Level Quantitative Reasoning

The surface area of a cube is six times the square of the length of each edge, which here is . Therefore,

Substituting, then solving for :

Since the sidelength is positive,

There is a sculpture in front of town hall which is shaped like a cube. If it has a volume of , what is the length of one side of the cube?

To find the side length of a cube from its volume, simply use the following formula:

Plug in what is known and use some algebra to get our answer:

You have a cube with a volume of . What is the cube's side length?

If we begin with the formula for volume of a cube, we can work backwards to find the side length.

Making our answer:

You have a crate with equal dimensions (height, length and width). If the volume of the cube is , what is the length of one of the crate's dimension?

Let's begin with realizing that we are dealing with a cube. A crate with equal dimensions will have equal height, length, and width, so it must be a cube.

With that in mind, we can find our side length by starting with the volume and working backward.

So, to find our side length, we just need to take the cubed root of the volume.

So, our answer is 6 meters, a fairly large crate!

Write the formula to find the volume of a cube.

Substitute the volume into the equation.

Cube root both sides.

The answer is:

You have a cube with a volume of . What is the cube's side length?

If we begin with the formula for volume of a cube, we can work backwards to find the side length.

Making our answer:

Substitute in the formula for the surface area of a cube:

To find the surface area of a cube, use the formula , where represents the length of the side. Since the side of the cube measures , we can substitute in for .

Your friend gives you a puzzle cube for your birthday. If the length of one edge is 5 cm, what is the surface area of the cube?

To find the surface area of a cube, use the following formula:

This works, because we have 6 sides, each of which has an area of

Plug in our known to get our answer:

A cube has a side length of , what is the surface area of the cube?

Surface area of a cube can be found as follows:

Plug in our side length to find our answer:

Making our answer:

One of your holiday gifts is wrapped in a cube-shaped box.

If one of the edges has a length of 6 inches, what is the surface area of the box?

We can find the surface area of a square by squaring the length of the side and then multiplying it by 6.

While exploring an ancient ruin, you discover a small puzzle cube. You measure the side length to be . Find the cube's surface area.

To find the surface area, use the following formula:

To find the surface area of a cube, we will use the following formula:

where a is the length of any side of the cube.

Now, we know the width of the cube is 6cm. Because it is a cube, all sides are 6cm. That is why we can choose any side to substitute into the formula.

Now, knowing this, we can substitute into the formula. We get

To find the surface area of a cube, we will use the following formula:

where a is the length of any side of the cube. Note that all sides are equal on a cube. That is why we can use any length in the formula.

Now, we know the length of the cube is 7in.

Knowing this, we can substitute into the formula. We get

To find the surface area of a cube, we will use the following formula.

where a is the length of any side of the cube.

Now, we know the width of the cube is 4in. Because it is a cube, all sides are equal (this is why we can use any length in the formula). So, we will use 4in in the formula. We get

To find the surface area of a cube, we will use the following formula:

where l is the length, and w is the width of the cube.

Now, we know the length of the cube is 12in. Because it is a cube, all lengths, widths, and heights are the same. Therefore, the width is also 12in.

Knowing this, we can substitute into the formula. We get

A cube has all equal sides (length, width, height). To find the surface area of a cube, we will use the following formula:

Now, we know the base of the cube is 8in. Because all sides are equal (i.e. all sides are 8in), we will use that to substitute into the formula. We get

You are building a box to hold your collection of rare rocks. You want to build a cube-shaped box with a side length of 3 feet. If you do so, what will the surface area of your box be?

To find the surface area, use the formula:

Where s is our side length and SA is our surface area.

Plug in our known and simplify

So, our answer is

To find the surface area of a cube, we will use the following formula:

where a is the length of any side of the cube. Because it is a cube, all sides are equal. Therefore, we can use any side in the formula.

Now, we know the length of the cube is 11in. We can substitute that into the formula. We get