How to find the surface area of a cone

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Geometry › How to find the surface area of a cone

Questions 1 - 10
1

The slant height of a cone is ; the diameter of its base is one-fifth its slant height. Give the surface area of the cone in terms of .

Explanation

The formula for the surface area of a cone with base of radius and slant height is

.

The diameter of the base is ; the radius is half this, so

Substitute in the surface area formula:

2

What is the surface area of the following cone?

Cone

Explanation

The formula for the surface area of a cone is:

,

where represents the radius of the cone base and represents the slant height of the cone.

Plugging in our values, we get:

3

The surface area of cone is . If the radius of the base of the cone is , what is the height of the cone?

Explanation

To figure out , we must use the equation for the surface area of a cone, , where is the radius of the base of the cone and is the length of the diagonal from the tip of the cone to any point on the base's circumference. We therefore first need to solve for by plugging what we know into the equation:

This equation can be reduced to:

For a normal right angle cone, represents the line from the tip of the cone running along the outside of the cone to a point on the base's circumference. This line represents the hypotenuse of the right triangle formed by the radius and height of the cone. We can therefore solve for using the Pythagorean theorem:

so

Our is therefore:

The height of cone is therefore

4

The lateral area is twice as big as the base area of a cone. If the height of the cone is 9, what is the entire surface area (base area plus lateral area)?

27π

54π

81π

90π

Explanation

Lateral Area = LA = π(r)(l) where r = radius of the base and l = slant height

LA = 2B

π(r)(l) = 2π(r2)

rl = 2r2

l = 2r

Cone

From the diagram, we can see that r2 + h2 = l2. Since h = 9 and l = 2r, some substitution yields

r2 + 92 = (2r)2

r2 + 81 = 4r2

81 = 3r2

27 = r2

B = π(r2) = 27π

LA = 2B = 2(27π) = 54π

SA = B + LA = 81π

5

If the surface area of a right angle cone is , and the distance from the tip of the cone to a point on the edge of the cone's base is , what is the cone's radius?

Explanation

Solving this problem is going to take knowledge of Algebra, Geometry, and the equation for the surface area of a cone: , where is the radius of the cone's base and is the distance from the tip of the cone to a point along the edge of the cone's base. First, let's substitute what we know in this equation:

We can divide out from every term in the equation to obtain:

We see this equation has taken the form of a quadratic expression, so to solve for we need to find the zeroes by factoring. We therefore need to find factors of that when added equal . In this case, and :

This gives us solutions of and . Since represents the radius of the cone and the radius must be positive, we know that is our only possible answer, and therefore the radius of the cone is .

6

Use the following formula to answer the question.

The slant height of a right circular cone is . The radius is , and the height is . Determine the surface area of the cone.

Explanation

Notice that the height of the cone is not needed to answer this question and is simply extraneous information. We are told that the radius is , and the slant height is .

First plug these numbers into the equation provided.

Then simplify by combining like terms.

7

The radius of the base of a cone is ; its height is twice of the diameter of that base. Give its surface area in terms of .

Explanation

The formula for the surface area of a cone with base of radius and slant height is

.

The base has radius and diameter . The height is twice the diamter, which is . Its slant height can be calculated using the Pythagorean Theorem:

Substitute for in the surface area formula:

8

The circumference of the base of a cone is 80; the slant height of the cone is equal to twice the diameter of the base. Give the surface area of the cone (nearest whole number).

Explanation

The formula for the surface area of a cone with base of radius and slant height is

.

The slant height is twice the diameter, or, equivalently, four times the radius, so

and

The radius of the base is the circumference divided by , which is

Substitute:

9

The circumference of the base of a cone is 100; the height of the cone is equal to the diameter of the base. Give the surface area of the cone (nearest whole number).

Explanation

The formula for the surface area of a cone with base of radius and slant height is

.

The diameter of the base is the circumference divided by , which is

This is also the height .

The radius is half this, or

The slant height can be found by way of the Pythagorean Theorem:

Substitute in the surface area formula:

10

The radius of the base of a cone is ; its slant height is two-thirds of the diameter of that base. Give its surface area in terms of .

Explanation

The formula for the surface area of a cone with base of radius and slant height is

.

The diameter of the base is twice radius , or , and its slant height is two-thirds of this diameter, which is . Substitute this for in the formula:

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