Cube and cuboid are three-dimensional shapes that consist of six faces, eight vertices, and twelve edges. The primary difference between them is a cube has all its sides equal whereas the length, width, and height of a cuboid are different. Both shapes look almost the same but have different properties.
Cube:
A cube is a three-dimensional shape that is defined in the XYZ plane. It has six faces, eight vertices, and twelve edges. All the faces of the cube are square in shape and have equal dimensions.
Cuboid:
A cuboid is also a polyhedron having six faces, eight vertices, and twelve edges. The faces of the cuboid are parallel. However, not all the faces of a cuboid are equal in dimensions.
Hence, cube and cuboid shapes have six faces, eight vertices, and twelve edges.
Difference Between Cube and Cuboid:
The differences between the cube and cuboid shapes are as follows:
- The sides of the cube are equal but for cuboids they are different.
- The sides of the cube are square, but the cuboids are in rectangular shape.
- All the diagonals of the cube are equal but a cuboid has equal diagonals for only parallel sides.
Cube and Cuboid Shape:
As we already know, both cube and cuboid are in 3D shape, whose axes go along the x-axis, y-axis and z-axis. Now, let us learn in detail.
A cuboid is a closed 3-dimensional geometrical figure bounded by six rectangular plane regions.
Properties of a Cuboid:
Below are the properties of the cuboid, its faces, base and lateral faces, edges, and vertices.
- Faces of Cuboid
A Cuboid is made up of six rectangles, each of the rectangles is called the face. In the figure above, ABFE, DAEH, DCGH, CBFG, ABCD, and EFGH are the 6 faces of the cuboid.
The top face ABCD and the bottom face EFGH form a pair of opposite faces. Similarly, ABFE, DCGH, and DAEH, CBFG are pairs of opposite faces. Any two faces other than the opposite faces are called adjacent faces.
Consider a face ABCD, the adjacent faces to this are ABFE, BCGF, CDHG, and ADHE.
- Base and lateral faces
Any face of a cuboid may be called the base of the cuboid. The four faces which are adjacent to the base are called the lateral faces of the cuboid. Usually, the surface on which a solid rests is known to be the base of the solid.
In Figure (1) above, EFGH represents the base of a cuboid.
- Edges
The edge of the cuboid is a line segment between any two adjacent vertices.
There are 12 edges, they are AB, AD, AE, HD, HE, HG, GF, GC, FE, FB, EF, and CD and the opposite sides of a rectangle are equal.
Hence, AB = CD = GH = EF, AE = DH = BF = CG and EH = FG = AD = BC.
- Vertices
The point of intersection of the 3 edges of a cuboid is called the vertex of a cuboid.
A cuboid has 8 vertices. A, B, C, D, E, F, G and H represent vertices of the cuboid in fig 1.
By observation, the twelve edges of a cuboid can be grouped into three groups, such that all edges in one group are equal in length, so there are three distinct groups and the groups are named as length, breadth, and height.
A solid having its length, breadth, and height all to be equal in measurement is called a cube. A cube is a solid bounded by six square plane regions, where the side of the cube is called the edge.
Properties of Cube:
- A cube has six faces and twelve edges of equal length.
- It has square-shaped faces.
- The angles of the cube in the plane are at a right angle.
- Each face of the cube meets four other faces.
- Each vertex of the cube meets three faces and three edges.
- The opposite edges of the cube are parallel to each other.
Cube and Cuboid Formulas:
The formulas for cube and cuboid shapes are defined based on their surface areas, lateral surface areas, and volume.
| Cube | Cuboid |
| Total Surface Area = 6(side)2 | Total Surface area = 2 (length × breadth + breadth × height + length × height) |
| Lateral Surface Area = 4 (Side)2 | Lateral Surface area = 2 height(length + breadth) |
| Volume of cube = (Side)3 | Volume of the cuboid = (length × breadth × height) |
| Diagonal of a cube = √3(side) | Diagonal of the cuboid =√( length2 + breadth2 +height2) |
| Perimeter of cube = 12 × side | Perimeter of cuboid = 4 (length + breadth + height) |
Surface Area of Cube and Cuboid
The surface area of a cuboid is equal to the sum of the areas of its six rectangular faces.
Consider a cuboid having the length to be ‘l’ cm, breadth be ‘b’ cm and height be ‘h’ cm.
- Area of face EFGH = Area of Face ABCD = (l × b) cm2
- Area of face BFGC = Area of face AEHD = (b × h) cm2
- Area of face DHGC = Area of face ABFE = (l × h) cm2
Total surface area of a cuboid = Sum of the areas of all its 6 rectangular faces
| Total Surface Area of Cuboid= 2 (lb + bh +lh) |
Example: If the length, breadth, and height of a cuboid are 5 cm, 3 cm, and 4 cm, then find its total surface area.
Given, Length, l = 5 cm, Breadth, b = 3 cm, and Height, h = 4 cm.
Total surface area (TSA) = 2(lb + bh + lh)
= 2(5 × 3 + 3 × 4 + 5 × 4)
= 2(15 + 12 + 20)
= 2(47)
= 94 sq.cm.
Lateral surface area of a Cuboid:
The sum of surface areas of all faces except the top and bottom face of a solid is defined as the lateral surface area of a solid.
Consider a Cuboid of length, breadth, and height to be l, b, and h respectively.
Lateral surface area of the cuboid= Area of face ADHE + Area of face BCGF + Area of face ABFE + Area of face DCGH
=2(b × h) + 2(l × h)
=2h(l + b)
| LSA of Cuboid = 2h(l +b) |
Example: If the length, breadth and height of a cuboid are 5 cm, 3 cm and 4 cm, then find its lateral surface area.
Given, Length = 5 cm, Breadth = 3 cm and Height = 4 cm
LSA = 2h(l + b)
LSA = 2 × 4(5 + 3)
LSA = 2 × 4(8)
LSA = 2 × 32 = 64 cm2
Surface Area of a Cube
For cube, length = breadth = height
Suppose the length of an edge = l
Hence, surface area of the cube = 2(l × l +l × l + l × l) = 2 x 3l2 = 6l2
| Total Surface Area of Cube= 6l2 |
Example: If the length of the side of the cube is 6 cm, then find its total surface area.
Given, side length = 6 cm
TSA of cube = 6l2
TSA = 6 (6)2
TSA = 6 × 36
TSA = 216 sq.cm
Lateral surface area of a Cube:
Formula to find the Lateral surface area of the cube is:
2(l × l + l × l) = 4l2
| LSA of Cube = 4l2 |
Example: If the length of the side of the cube is 6 cm, then find its lateral surface area.
Given,
Side length, l = 6 cm
LSA of cube = 4l2
LSA = 4 (6)2
LSA = 4 x 36 = 144 sq.cm
Volume of the Cube and Cuboid
Volume of Cuboid:
The volume of the cuboid is equal to the product of the area of one surface and height.
Volume of the cuboid = (length × breadth × height) cubic units
| Volume of the cuboid = ( l × b × h) cubic units |
Example: If the length, breadth and height of a cuboid are 5 cm, 3 cm and 4 cm, then find its volume.
Given, Length (l) = 5 cm, Breadth (b) = 3 cm and Height (h) = 4 cm
Volume of cuboid = l × b × h
V = 5 × 3 × 4
V = 60 cubic cm
Volume of the Cube:
The volume of the cube is equal to the product of the area of the base of a cube and its height. As we know already, all the edges of the cube are of the same length. Hence,
Volume of the cube = l2 × h
Since, l = h
Therefore,
Volume of the cube = l2 × l
| Volume of the cube = l3 cubic units |
Example: If the length of the side of the cube is 6 cm, then find its volume.
Given, side length = 6 cm
Volume of cube = side3
V = 63
V = 216 cubic cm