New
Table of contents
What is a surface area of a cube?Understanding the equation for the surface area of a cube (formula)How do you find the surface area of a cube by hand?How to use Omni's "Surface area of a cube calculator"?Omni's Advanced options for the area of a cubeSurface area of a cube and it's relation to probabilityIntroducing Omni's surface area of a cube calculator. Have you ever wondered how do you find the surface area of a cube? We have the answer, in the form of a tool that calculates the area of a cube. We also have to answer to why the equation for the surface area of a cube is how it is in this text. Below you'll also find fun facts, fast calculations, and anything you can imagine related to a surface of a cube.
If you need a tool covering other aspects of cubes, go to Omni's cube calculator. If you're particularly interested in volume, we have a dedicated volume of a cube calculator.
What is a surface area of a cube?
A cube, like any 3D object, has a volume and a surface area. But what exactly is surface area? Well, sticking to our object of interest, the surface area of a cube is the 2D surface that separates what is inside from what is outside the cube.
If you think about a square, the sides of the square are what mark where the square ends and where it begins. In the case of a cube, we need to go up one dimension, so instead of having a 1D line, we have a 2D surface. Calculating the surface area of a cube is very simple.
"Surface area" is the technical term, but for the cube, it's equivalent to saying "the surface of a cube". We will try to use "surface area of a cube" most of the time as it's more proper, but you can use whatever floats your boat.
Understanding the equation for the surface area of a cube (formula)
Almost all properties of a cube are relatively simple to compute, and the surface area is no exception. Don't believe me? Well, take a look at the equation:
area = 6 * l2
I told you it's super simple! Similarly to the volume of a cube, the equation is not only simple but also intuitive and easy to compute by hand.
The surface area of a cube formula (or equation) is very intuitively understood if you realise that a cube is made out of squares. The area of a square is simply the product of its sides.
A cube has six sides, each of them being a square, which is why we multiply the area of a square by six. And thats it, you already have the full equation for the surface area of a cube, just by thinking a bit harder than we do while watching YouTube.
The next step is to use this newly understood "Surface area of a cube formula" to actually calculate the surface of a cube!
How do you find the surface area of a cube by hand?
So, let's get to business, how do you find the surface area of a cube? You can do it by hand or by using our calculator. If you just want the result, go for the calculator as it's pretty convenient. However, if your goal is to learn how to calculate the surface area of a cube, stay with us because we are going to teach you just that.
First thing first, grab a piece of paper and a pencil (or pen if you're brave enough) and follow along as we go. Now, let's pick an example cube; let's choose a cube with side length 4 cm
. This is our l
in the equation for the surface area of a cube.
Take that number (4 cm
or whatever you chose) and multiply it by itself. If you were using the same example as us, you would now have 16 cm²
, which is the area of one of the six squares that make up the area of a cube. Just multiply that result by the number of squares in a cube, and you will get the result: 96 cm²
.
It wasn't that hard to calculate the surface of a cube, was it? Well, if you are ever in a rush and just need the number quick, the next section will be perfect!
How to use Omni's "Surface area of a cube calculator"?
Using any of Omni's calculators is never a difficult task, but this calculator in particular is very straightforward. All you need to do is simply input the length of the side of your cube, and the calculator will do all the "heavy" lifting for you.
Is it magic? Nope, it's better, it's science! The calculator is designed in such a way that it will automatically solve the equation for the surface area of a cube. But this is no ordinary calculator. This calculator can solve the equation both ways. So you can also input the surface area of your cube and get the side length.
But wait, there more! If you call in the next 20min... We also have implemented an advanced mode into the calculator so that you can compute everything regarding a cube!
Omni's Advanced options for the area of a cube
How do you calculate the surface area of a cube if you don't know the side length? Well, fear not, for Omni's surface area of a cube calculator has you covered. We present to you three different options to do just that. You can input the volume of a cube, or any of the diagonals, and the calculator will give you the surface area you've been looking for.
You can also do this by hand if you simply calculate the length of the side from whatever quantity you already know; then apply this value to the equation for the surface area of a cube that we showed you above. Once again, the "Surface area of a cube Calculator" is not powered by magic, but maths. So no matter what your needs are, we have you covered with our tool.
But not everything in life is calculating numbers, and learning new creative solutions for how to calculate the surface area of a cube can actually be quite fun. It is also very important to know how to take this knowledge and apply it to more exciting and practical situations. This is precisely what we will do in the next section.
Surface area of a cube and it's relation to probability
Have you noticed that there are no dice in the shape of a rectangular prism? The reason is very simple: it wouldn't be a random dice. One of the advantages of a cube shape is that all the sides are the same; they all have the same area. You can see this directly in the formula.
If we had a dice in the shape of a rectangular prism, it would have a preference for which side to land on, making it not random at all. This is because the area of some of its sides are bigger. In a cube, all sides are squares of the same area, and none are rectangles. A cube ensures that all possibilities are equally probable, and therefore, the result can't be predicted.
So that's a final fun fact about cubes. If you are interested in learning more about probability and random events, we have made the dice roll probability calculator just for that, go and enjoy!