Intermediate Geometry : Cylinders

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for Intermediate Geometry

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Example Questions

Example Question #1 : Cylinders

A cylinder has a volume of 16 and a radius of 4.  What is its height?

Possible Answers:

\(\displaystyle \frac{1}{\pi}\)

\(\displaystyle 3\)

\(\displaystyle \frac{2}{\pi}\)

\(\displaystyle \pi\)

\(\displaystyle \frac{1}{3}\)

Correct answer:

\(\displaystyle \frac{1}{\pi}\)

Explanation:

Since the radius is 4, the area of the base is \(\displaystyle 16\pi\).  To cancel out the \(\displaystyle \pi\), the height must be \(\displaystyle \frac{1}{\pi }\).

Example Question #2 : Cylinders

What is the surface area of a cylinder with diameter 4 and height 6? The equation to calculate the surface area of a cylinder is:

\(\displaystyle SA=2r^2\pi+2rh\pi\)

Possible Answers:

\(\displaystyle 80\pi\)

\(\displaystyle 64\pi\)

\(\displaystyle 48\pi\)

\(\displaystyle 32\pi\)

Correct answer:

\(\displaystyle 32\pi\)

Explanation:

If the diameter of the cylinder is 4, the radius is equal to 2. Therefore:

\(\displaystyle SA=2r^2\pi+2rh\pi=2(2^2)\pi+2(2)(6)\pi=8\pi+24\pi=32\pi\)

Example Question #1 : Cylinders

Find the surface area of the following right cylinder: 

Cylinder33

Possible Answers:

\(\displaystyle 112\pi\ in^{2}\)

\(\displaystyle 160\pi\ in^{2}\)

\(\displaystyle 96\pi\ in^{2}\)

\(\displaystyle 192\pi\ in^{2}\)

\(\displaystyle 48\pi\ in^{2}\)

Correct answer:

\(\displaystyle 112\pi\ in^{2}\)

Explanation:

The answer is \(\displaystyle 112\pi\ in^{2}\).  To find the surface area we need to find the area of the top, bottom, and the round side respectively.  To find the areas of the top and bottom circles, you would need to use the formula \(\displaystyle \pi r^{2}\) . 

Plug in 4 for \(\displaystyle r\), and you get \(\displaystyle 16\pi\), then multiply by 2 for 2 circles to get \(\displaystyle 32\pi .\)

Then to get the area of the round side, you would take the circumference times the height.  Thus with the formula

\(\displaystyle 2\pi r h\) 

you would get \(\displaystyle 80\pi .\) 

To get your final answer, add \(\displaystyle 32 \pi\) and \(\displaystyle 80\pi\) to get \(\displaystyle 112\pi .\)  

 

Also you could remember the formula \(\displaystyle SA \ cylinder = 2\left (\pi r^{2}\right )+ h\left (2\pi r \right )\)

 and plug in \(\displaystyle 4=r\) and \(\displaystyle 10=h\)

Example Question #2 : How To Find The Surface Area Of A Cylinder

Given a cylinder with radius of 5cm and a height of 10cm, what is the surface area of the entire cylinder?

Possible Answers:

\(\displaystyle 200\pi\; cm^2\)

\(\displaystyle 50\pi\; cm^2\)

\(\displaystyle 175\pi \; cm^2\)

\(\displaystyle 150\pi \; cm^2\)

\(\displaystyle 100\pi \; cm^2\)

Correct answer:

\(\displaystyle 150\pi \; cm^2\)

Explanation:

Cylinder__psf_

The surface area of the whole cylinder = (2 * area of circle) + lateral area

Think of the lateral area as the paper label on a can; It wraps around the outside of the can while leaving the top and bottom untouched. The area of the circle, times 2, is to account for the top and the bottom of the cylinder.

Area of a circle = \(\displaystyle \pi r^2\)

So the area of the circle = \(\displaystyle 25\pi\)\(\displaystyle cm^2\), and since there are two circles we have

\(\displaystyle 50cm^2\)

Now for the lateral area. Notice how if we have a can with a paper label, we can take the label, cut it, and unroll it from the can. In this way, our label now looks like a rectangle with a

height = height and the

width = circumference of the circle.

Circumference = \(\displaystyle 2\pi r\)

So our rectangle is going to have a height of 10 and a width of 10\(\displaystyle \pi\). So the lateral area =

\(\displaystyle 10\cdot 10\pi =100\pi\)

 

So the total surface area =

\(\displaystyle 50\pi +100\pi =150\pi \ cm^{2}\)

Example Question #3 : How To Find The Surface Area Of A Cylinder

The circumference of the base of a cylinder is \(\displaystyle 6.28\:cm\) and the height of the cylinder is \(\displaystyle 12\:cm\). What is this cylinder's surface area? Round to the tenths place.

Possible Answers:

\(\displaystyle 163.4\:cm^2\)

\(\displaystyle 81.9\:cm^2\)

\(\displaystyle 75.4\:cm^2\)

\(\displaystyle 81.7\:cm^2\)

\(\displaystyle 81.5\:cm^2\)

Correct answer:

\(\displaystyle 81.7\:cm^2\)

Explanation:

The formula to find the surface area of a cylinder is \(\displaystyle A= 2 \pi rh + 2 \pi r^2\), where \(\displaystyle h\) is the height of the cylinder and \(\displaystyle r\) is the radius. 

In this kind of equation-based problem, it's helpful to ask "What information do I have?" and "What information is missing that I need?" 

The problem provides information for the \(\displaystyle h\) component of the equation, but not for the \(\displaystyle r\) component. Instead, we're given information about the circumference of the circular base of the cylinder. The question that arises now is how the radius can be calculated from the circumference. The formula for circumference is: , where \(\displaystyle d\) is diameter. Radius can be calculated by taking half of the diameter. This means that radius and circumference are related in terms of \(\displaystyle d\)

Therefore, the first step for this problem is to solve for \(\displaystyle d\).

\(\displaystyle C = \pi \cdot d\)

\(\displaystyle 6.28 = \pi \cdot d\)

\(\displaystyle \frac{6.28}{\pi}=\frac{\pi \cdot d}{\pi}\)

\(\displaystyle d=1.99\approx2\:cm\)

Because the diameter is \(\displaystyle 2\:cm\), that means that the radius must be \(\displaystyle 1\:cm\).

Now the surface area can be solved for after the \(\displaystyle h\) and \(\displaystyle r\) values are substituted into the equation. 

\(\displaystyle Area = 2 \pi (1) (12) + 2 \pi (1)^2\)

\(\displaystyle A= 2 \pi (12)+ 2 \pi (1)\)

\(\displaystyle A = 24 \pi +2\pi\)

\(\displaystyle A = 26 \pi\)

\(\displaystyle A = 81.68\:cm^2 \approx81.7\:cm^2\)

Example Question #6 : How To Find The Surface Area Of A Cylinder

Find the surface area of the cylinder below.

1

Possible Answers:

\(\displaystyle 1991.24\)

\(\displaystyle 2412.74\)

\(\displaystyle 1902.59\)

\(\displaystyle 1988.18\)

Correct answer:

\(\displaystyle 2412.74\)

Explanation:

To find the surface area of the cylinder, first find the areas of the bases:

\(\displaystyle \text{Area of Bases}=2\pi r^2\)

Next, find the lateral surface area, which is a rectangle:

\(\displaystyle \text{Lateral Surface Area}=2\pi r h\)

Add the two together to get the equation to find the surface area of a cylinder:

\(\displaystyle \text{Surface Area of Cylinder}=2\pi r^2+2\pi r h\)

Plug in the given height and radius to find the surface area.

\(\displaystyle \text{Surface Area of Cylinder}=2\pi(12)^2+2\pi(12)(20)=768\pi=2412.74\)

Make sure to round to \(\displaystyle 2\) places after the decimal point.

Example Question #7 : How To Find The Surface Area Of A Cylinder

Find the surface area of the given cylinder.

2

Possible Answers:

\(\displaystyle 36.60\)

\(\displaystyle 40.50\)

\(\displaystyle 31.49\)

\(\displaystyle 37.70\)

Correct answer:

\(\displaystyle 37.70\)

Explanation:

To find the surface area of the cylinder, first find the areas of the bases:

\(\displaystyle \text{Area of Bases}=2\pi r^2\)

Next, find the lateral surface area, which is a rectangle:

\(\displaystyle \text{Lateral Surface Area}=2\pi r h\)

Add the two together to get the equation to find the surface area of a cylinder:

\(\displaystyle \text{Surface Area of Cylinder}=2\pi r^2+2\pi r h\)

Plug in the given height and radius to find the surface area.

\(\displaystyle \text{Surface Area of Cylinder}=2\pi(1)^2+2\pi(1)(5)=12\pi=37.70\)

Make sure to round to \(\displaystyle 2\) places after the decimal point.

Example Question #8 : How To Find The Surface Area Of A Cylinder

Find the surface area of the given cylinder.

3

Possible Answers:

\(\displaystyle 87.96\)

\(\displaystyle 80.01\)

\(\displaystyle 92.55\)

\(\displaystyle 71.41\)

Correct answer:

\(\displaystyle 87.96\)

Explanation:

To find the surface area of the cylinder, first find the areas of the bases:

\(\displaystyle \text{Area of Bases}=2\pi r^2\)

Next, find the lateral surface area, which is a rectangle:

\(\displaystyle \text{Lateral Surface Area}=2\pi r h\)

Add the two together to get the equation to find the surface area of a cylinder:

\(\displaystyle \text{Surface Area of Cylinder}=2\pi r^2+2\pi r h\)

Plug in the given height and radius to find the surface area.

\(\displaystyle \text{Surface Area of Cylinder}=2\pi(2)^2+2\pi(2)(5)=28\pi=87.96\)

Make sure to round to \(\displaystyle 2\) places after the decimal point.

Example Question #2 : How To Find The Surface Area Of A Cylinder

Find the surface area of the given cylinder.

4

Possible Answers:

\(\displaystyle 219.29\)

\(\displaystyle 198.62\)

\(\displaystyle 200.01\)

\(\displaystyle 207.35\)

Correct answer:

\(\displaystyle 207.35\)

Explanation:

To find the surface area of the cylinder, first find the areas of the bases:

\(\displaystyle \text{Area of Bases}=2\pi r^2\)

Next, find the lateral surface area, which is a rectangle:

\(\displaystyle \text{Lateral Surface Area}=2\pi r h\)

Add the two together to get the equation to find the surface area of a cylinder:

\(\displaystyle \text{Surface Area of Cylinder}=2\pi r^2+2\pi r h\)

Plug in the given height and radius to find the surface area.

\(\displaystyle \text{Surface Area of Cylinder}=2\pi(3)^2+2\pi(3)(8)=66\pi=207.35\)

Make sure to round to \(\displaystyle 2\) places after the decimal point.

Example Question #1 : Cylinders

Find the surface area of the given cylinder.

5

Possible Answers:

\(\displaystyle 309.59\)

\(\displaystyle 301.59\)

\(\displaystyle 266.71\)

\(\displaystyle 334.11\)

Correct answer:

\(\displaystyle 301.59\)

Explanation:

To find the surface area of the cylinder, first find the areas of the bases:

\(\displaystyle \text{Area of Bases}=2\pi r^2\)

Next, find the lateral surface area, which is a rectangle:

\(\displaystyle \text{Lateral Surface Area}=2\pi r h\)

Add the two together to get the equation to find the surface area of a cylinder:

\(\displaystyle \text{Surface Area of Cylinder}=2\pi r^2+2\pi r h\)

Plug in the given height and radius to find the surface area.

\(\displaystyle \text{Surface Area of Cylinder}=2\pi(4)^2+2\pi(4)(8)=96\pi=301.59\)

Make sure to round to \(\displaystyle 2\) places after the decimal point.

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