Solids around us
Solids aren't just pictures in a textbook. They are everywhere around us – you only have to look. Below is a list of objects to help you spot where each solid hides.
Sphere – everything completely round
A sphere is a solid with no flat faces, edges, or vertices. It looks the same from every side.
- ⚽ football
- 🏐 volleyball
- 🍊 orange
- 🌍 globe
- a Christmas bauble
- a marble
Cube – everything with equal square faces
A cube has six equal square faces. The edges always have the same length.
- 🎲 die
- 🧊 ice cube
- a sugar cube
- a Lego brick
Cuboid – boxes of all sizes
A cuboid has six rectangular faces. Different sides have different lengths.
- 📦 shoebox
- 📕 book
- 🧱 brick
- a freezer or fridge
- an aquarium
- a pencil case
Cylinder – cans and tubes
A cylinder has a circle on top and bottom and a smooth "wave" around it.
- 🥫 can
- 🥛 glass
- a pencil
- a candle
- a rolling pin
- a wooden log
Cone – everything pointy with a circle on the bottom
A cone has a circle on the bottom and is pointy on top.
- 🍦 ice-cream cone
- 🎉 paper party hat
- a traffic cone (orange, on the road)
- the top of a pointy roof
- a witch's hat
Pyramid – pyramids and pointy roofs
A pyramid has a square at the bottom and four triangles rising up to one vertex.
- 🛕 Egyptian pyramid
- the top of an obelisk
- some tower roofs
Prism – tents and roofs
A triangular prism has two triangles in front and back, and three rectangular faces between them.
- ⛺ tent
- 🍫 Toblerone chocolate
- the slope of a house roof
- a glass prism
A game: go and look
Try looking around your room and find at least one object for each solid. Remember:
- not every object is exactly a solid – a ball is not a perfect sphere, a die has slightly rounded edges. We're looking for similarity, not a perfect shape.
- some objects are made of several solids. For example, a house has a cuboid (walls) + a prism (roof). A pencil is a cylinder + a cone (the tip).