Surface Area Calculator
Pick a solid and enter its dimensions. The calculator gives its total surface area and its volume.
Result
- Volume
- 125 cm³
- Formula used
- 6 × side²
- Surface area to volume ratio
- 1.2 per cm
Formula
- Cube: 6 × side²
- Box: 2 × (lw + lh + wh)
- Cylinder: 2π × r × (r + h)
- Sphere: 4π × r²
- Cone: π × r × (r + √(r² + h²))
- Square pyramid: side² + 2 × side × √(h² + (side ÷ 2)²)
How the Surface Area Calculator works
Surface area is the total area of the outside of a solid. For shapes with flat faces, add the areas of the faces. For curved shapes, the formulas come from unrolling the surface or from calculus.
Surface area decides how much paint, wrapping or sheet material a shape needs. The ratio of surface area to volume explains why small objects cool faster than large ones.
Worked example
A cube with 5 cm sides has six faces of 25 cm² each, so its surface area is 150 cm². Its volume is 125 cm³.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between lateral and total surface area?
Lateral area covers only the sides. Total surface area also includes the base or bases.
What units is surface area measured in?
Square units, such as square centimeters or square feet. Volume uses cubic units.
Related calculators
- Box Volume Calculator (Rectangular Prism)Calculate the volume, surface area and space diagonal of a box, cube or rectangular prism from its length, width and height.
- Cylinder Volume CalculatorCalculate the volume and surface area of a cylinder from its radius or diameter and height, with the result in liters and gallons.
- Sphere Volume CalculatorCalculate the volume and surface area of a sphere from its radius or diameter.
- Cone Volume CalculatorCalculate the volume, slant height and surface area of a right circular cone from its radius and height.
- Pyramid Volume CalculatorCalculate the volume, slant heights and surface area of a rectangular or square pyramid from its base and height.
- Circle CalculatorCalculate the radius, diameter, circumference and area of a circle from any one of them.
- Triangle Area CalculatorCalculate the area of a triangle from base and height, from three sides with Heron's formula, or from two sides and the angle between them.
- Rectangle CalculatorCalculate the area, perimeter and diagonal of a rectangle or square from its length and width.
- Trapezoid Area CalculatorCalculate the area of a trapezoid from its two parallel sides and height, with the median line.
- Hexagon and Regular Polygon CalculatorCalculate the area, perimeter, apothem and angles of a regular hexagon, pentagon, octagon or any regular polygon from its side length.
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