The lateral faces of the prism

The lateral faces of aright triangular prism are actually rectangles. More precisely, they are three rectangles. These rectangles "wrap" the prism. These rectangles can be different from each other, depending mainly on the bases of the prism(triangles). One side of each rectangle is actually equivalentthe height of the prism, while the other side is part of the base.

The number of lateral faces a prism has is equal to the number of sides the base polygon has. For example, if the base of the prism is a triangle, then it will have three lateral faces, if the base is a quadrilateral, it will have four lateral faces, and so on.

We use the different data about the lateral faces of the prism to calculate the area of the lateral surface as well as the area of the total surface of the prism.

If this article interests you, you may be interested in the following articles:

Right triangular prism

Bases of a right triangular prism

Lateral edges of a prism

Height of a prism

The volume of a prism

Surface area of triangular prisms

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Here are some examples of right triangular prisms. The side faces of the prism are painted in 3 colors, blue, green and pink.

A2 - Ejemplos_de_Cada_cara_lateral_en_separado.

Questions and answers about The lateral faces of a prism

What is the definition of a prism?

A prism is a geometric body formed by two polygonal faces, which are equal and parallel, these faces are called bases of the prism and it has as many lateral faces as sides of the base.

What are the lateral faces of a rectangular prism?

In a rectangular prism, the lateral faces are those rectangles that share a common side with each base.

What is the lateral edge of a prism?

They are the segments of straight lines where two lateral faces of the prism intersect.

How many sides does a rectangular prism have?

A rectangular prism is formed by two bases and four lateral faces, therefore, it has six sides.