A 3D shape is described by its edges, faces, and vertices (vertex is the singular form of vertices).

This video and images below explain the faces, vertices and edges of common three-dimensional shapes.

A face is a 2D shape that makes up one surface of a 3D shape, an edge is where two faces meet and a vertex is the point or corner of a geometric shape.

To work out the area of a face of a 3D shape, you use square units such as cm² as the face of a 3D shape is a 2D shape in its own right (a pyramid’s face will form a triangle, or its base a square). You can learn how to work out area of a shape here.

To work out the volume of the whole 3D shape you used cubic units such as cm³. To learn how to work out the volume of 3D shapes click here.

Properties of 3D Shapes – Prisms

Cube

Number of Edges: 12

Number of Faces: 6

Number of Vertices: 8

Cuboid

Number of Edges: 12

Number of Faces: 6

Number of Vertices: 8

Cylinder

Number of Edges: 2

Number of Faces: 3

Number of Vertices: 0

Triangular Prism

Number of Edges: 9

Number of Faces: 5

Number of Vertices: 6

Octagonal Prism

Number of Edges: 24

Number of Faces: 10

Number of Vertices: 16

Properties of 3D Shapes – Pyramids

Tetrahedron

Number of Edges: 6

Number of Faces: 4

Number of Vertices: 4

Square based Pyramid

Number of Edges: 8

Number of Faces: 5

Number of Vertices: 5

Hexagonal based Pyramid

Number of Edges: 12

Number of Faces: 7

Number of Vertices: 7

Properties of 3D Shapes – Curved Faces

Cone

Number of Edges: 1

Number of Faces: 2

Number of Vertices: 1

Frustum

Number of Edges: 2

Number of Faces: 3

Number of Vertices: 0

Sphere

Number of Edges: 0

Number of Faces: 1

Number of Vertices: 0