Lateral Surface of a Cylinder Calculator
Table of contents
What is the lateral surface area of a cylinder?How to find the lateral surface area of a cylinder?Here are some cylinder related calculators:FAQsWith this lateral surface of a cylinder calculator, we aim to help you to calculate the lateral surface area of a cylinder.
We have written this article to help you understand what is the lateral surface area of a cylinder and how to find the lateral surface area of a cylinder. We will also demonstrate some calculations examples to help you understand the calculation.
What is the lateral surface area of a cylinder?
To understand what is the lateral surface area of a circular cylinder, we need to first define two things: cylinder and lateral surface area.
A cylinder is an 3D object that is bound by a cylindrical surface and 2 circles, both on top and bottom. The lateral surface area is the surface area of a 3D object, excluding the area of its top and base.
Hence, the lateral surface area of a circular cylinder is the area of the cylindrical area. The calculation excludes the the top and base circles' area.
How to find the lateral surface area of a cylinder?
To understand how do you find the lateral surface area of a cylinder, let's take a cylinder with the following attributes as an example:
- Object: Cylinder
- Diameter,
d
: 10 cm - Height,
h
: 12 cm
You can find the lateral surface area of a cylinder in four steps:
-
Determine the radius of the cylinder
The radius,
r
, is the distance from the center of the circle to its edge. It can also be interpreted as half go the diameter, as displayed in the in the formula below:r = d / 2
In this example, the
r
is10 cm / 2 = 5 cm
. -
Determine the height of the cylinder
The height of the cylinder,
h
, is12 cm
in our example. -
Calculate the perimeter of the base circle
You can calculate the perimeter of the base circle suing the formula below:
perimeter = 2 * π * r
Hence, the
perimeter
of the base circle is2 * π * 5 cm = 10π cm
. -
Apply the lateral surface formula for the cylinder:
lateral surface = perimeter * height
The last step is to find the lateral surface area of the cylinder using the formula below:
lateral surface = perimeter * h
Thus, the
lateral surface
of the cylinder is10π cm * 12 cm = 120π cm² ≈ 377 cm²
.
What is lateral surface?
The lateral surface is the total area of all the surface area of an object, excluding its top and base.
What is a cylinder?
A cylinder is a 3D object that is bound by a cylindrical surface with 2 circles on its top and base. You can imagine it as a tin an with a top and base lids.
How do I calculate the lateral surface of a cylinder?
You can calculate the lateral surface of a cylinder in four steps:
- Determine the radius of the cylinder
- Determine the height of the cylinder
- Calculate the perimeter of the base circle:
perimeter = 2 * π * radius
- Apply the lateral surface formula for the cylinder:
lateral surface = perimeter * height
Can the lateral surface be negative?
No, the lateral surface cannot be negative. This is because all 3D object will have a surface. An object with negative lateral surface does not exist.