Geometry
Area, perimeter, and volume formulas for common shapes.
Geometry formulas describe the size and shape of things — how much surface a flat shape covers, how far around its edge, how much space a solid takes up — and they come up constantly outside the classroom too, in construction, design, and any field that works with physical dimensions. This section covers area and perimeter for triangles, rectangles, squares, and circles, plus volume and surface area for spheres, cylinders, and cones.
The biggest source of errors here isn't the formulas themselves but mixing up which one applies to which shape, or forgetting whether a given measurement is a radius or a diameter. Each page works through a real numeric example so you can see the formula applied to actual dimensions, not just stated abstractly, and several include the rearranged version of the formula (solving for radius instead of area, for instance) since that's often what a real problem actually asks for.
Area
Area of a Circle
Calculate the area enclosed by a circle from its radius.
Learn more →Area of a Triangle
Half the base times the perpendicular height — works for any triangle.
Learn more →Area of a Rectangle
The total space enclosed within a rectangle's four sides — length times width.
Learn more →Area of a Square
A square's area is its side length squared, since all four sides are equal.
Learn more →Perimeter
Volume
Volume of a Sphere
The three-dimensional space enclosed by a sphere.
Learn more →Volume of a Cylinder
The area of a cylinder's circular base multiplied by its height.
Learn more →Volume of a Cone
Exactly one-third the volume of a cylinder with the same base and height.
Learn more →