A cube is a region of space formed by six identical square faces joined along their edges. Three edges join at each corner to form a vertex. The cube can also be called a regular hexahedron. It is one of the five regular polyhedrons, which are also sometimes referred to as the Platonic solids.
Parts of a cube
| Face | Also called facets or sides. A cube has six faces which are all squares, so each face has four equal sides and all four interior angles are right angles.
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| Edge | A line segment formed where two edges meet. A cube has 12 edges. Because all faces are squares and congruent to each other, all 12 edges are the same length.
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| Vertex | A point formed where three edges meet. A cube has 8 vertices. |
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| Face Diagonals | Face diagonals are line segments linking the opposite corners of a face. Each face has two, for a total of 12 in the cube.
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| Space Diagonals | Space diagonals are line segments linking the opposite corners of a cube, cutting through its interior. A cube has 4 space diagonals. |
Properties of a cube
| Volume | The volume is s3 where s is the length of one edge.
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| Surface Area | The surface area of a cube is 6s2 , where s is the length of one edge. |
