1. 3-D Shapes Topic 14: Lesson 8
3-D Shapes Topic 14: Lesson 8 Volume of Pyramids Holt Geometry Texas ©2007

2. Objectives and Student Expectations
TEKS: G2B, G3B, G6B, G8D, G11D
The student will make conjectures about 3-D figures and determine the validity using a variety of approaches.
The student will construct and justify statements about geometric figures and their properties.
The student will use nets to represent and construct 3-D figures.
The student will find surface area and volume of prisms, cylinders, cones, pyramids, spheres, and composite figures.
The student will describe the effect on perimeter, area, and volume when one or more dimensions of a figure are changed.

3. The volume of a pyramid is related to the volume of a prism with the same base and height. The relationship can be verified by dividing a cube into three congruent square pyramids, as shown.
The square pyramids are congruent, so they have the same volume. The volume of each pyramid is one third the volume of the cube.

4. This formula will work for any type of
pyramid—right or oblique!

5. Example: 1 Find the volume of a rectangular pyramid with
length 11 m, width 18 m, and height 23 m.

6. Example: 2
Find the volume of the square pyramid with base edge length 9 cm and height 14 cm.
The base is a square with a side length of 9 cm, and the height is 14 cm.

7. Example: 3
Find the volume of the regular hexagonal pyramid with height equal to the apothem of the base
Step 1 Find the area of the base.
Area of a regular polygon
Simplify.

8. Example: 3 continued
Find the volume of the regular hexagonal pyramid with height equal to the apothem of the base
Step 2 Use the base area and the height to find the volume. The height is equal to the apothem,
Volume of a pyramid.
= 1296 ft3
Simplify.

9. Example: 4
Find the volume of a regular hexagonal pyramid with a base edge length of 2 cm and a height equal to the area of the base.
Step 1 Find the area of the base.
Area of a regular polygon
Simplify.

10. Example: 4 continued
Find the volume of a regular hexagonal pyramid with a base edge length of 2 cm and a height equal to the area of the base.
Step 2 Use the base area and the height to find the volume.
Volume of a pyramid
= 36 cm3
Simplify.

11. Example: 5
An art gallery is a 6-story square pyramid with base area acre (1 acre = 4840 yd2, 1 story ≈ 10 ft). Estimate the volume in cubic yards and cubic feet.
The base is a square with an area of about 2420 yd2. The base edge length is The height is
about 6(10) = 60 ft or about 20 yd.
First find the volume in cubic yards.
Volume of a pyramid

12. Example: 5 continued Volume of a pyramid
Substitute 2420 for B and 20 for h.
V  16,133 yd3
Then convert your answer to find the volume in cubic feet. The volume of one cubic yard is (3 ft)(3 ft)(3 ft) = 27 ft3. Use the conversion factor to find the volume in cubic feet.

13. Example: 6 Find the volume of the composite figure.
The volume of the rectangular prism is
V = Bh = 25(12)(15) = 4500 ft3.
The volume of the pyramid is
The volume of the composite figure is the rectangular prism minus the pyramid.
4500 — 1500 = 3000 ft3

14. Example: 7 Find the lateral area and surface area and volume
of the regular pyramid.
Find the lateral area:
There are 6 isosceles triangles
that make up the lateral area. Or
you can use the formula for the
lateral area.

15. Example: 7 continued Find the surface area: Remember that a regular
hexagon is made up of 6
equilateral triangles. What
formula works best for an
equilateral triangle when you
are given the side length?

16. Example: 7 continued Find the volume: You will need to
find the height of the pyramid.
First you need to find the apothem.
Remember that your 6 triangles in
the base are equilateral triangles.
Then you need to use the apothem and the radius of
the base to find the height.
Now you are ready to find the volume!