Definition
Rectangular prism
A rectangular prism is a box-shaped solid with six rectangular faces.
Continue from this idea into connected AXIO math.
What it means
Think of a closed box. It has a top and bottom, front and back, and two side faces—six faces altogether. Every face is a rectangle, even when a perspective drawing makes some faces look slanted.
Remember it
Three opposite face pairs close the box: front/back, top/bottom, and left/right.
Example
A solid is 4 cm long, 3 cm wide, and 2 cm high. Its faces are two 4 × 3 rectangles, two 4 × 2 rectangles, and two 3 × 2 rectangles, so all six faces are rectangles and the solid is a rectangular prism.
Watch for
A triangular prism is not a rectangular prism because two of its faces are triangles.
Common mix-up
In British and Singapore English, this solid is often called a cuboid. A flat rectangle is one face, not the whole solid.
Exact meaning
A rectangular prism is a three-dimensional solid with six rectangular faces arranged in three pairs of equal, opposite faces. A cube is a special rectangular prism because every square is a rectangle.