cylinder

A cylinder is a three-dimensional prism with a circle–shaped cross-section.

A cylinder can be open (1 curved face) or closed (1 curved face and 2 circle-shaped faces). A cylinder has no vertices, but has two sides.

The formula for the volume of a closed cylinder is:

In this formula r represents the radius of the circle and h represents the height of the cylinder (the distance between the centres of both circles on both ends of the cylinder).

The formula for the surface area of an open cylinder is:

An open cylinder is really a rectangle shape. Imagine cutting straight down a cylinder’s length and opening it up to form a rectangle.

The formula for the surface area of a closed cylinder is:

Compared to the formula for calculating the surface area of an open cylinder, the area of both circles on both ends has to be added.