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3D ShapesShapes
are everywhere in the real world, many structures both natural and man-made
comprise sets of 3D shapes. Take a look around and recognise how
many cuboids, spheres, pyramids, prisms there are in the objects you see, touch
and use everyday.
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Download aspex tabs for free
and try this educational software out for yourself,
the program will work on
PC's and Mac OS X. |
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On close inspection you might notice that your computer is made up of different
sized cuboids and prisms, both common 3D shapes. How about the table or chair you are sitting on, the
door to the room, the filing cabinet? And what about a Saturn V rocket, it seems
to be made from cylinders and cones and other common shapes. 3D geometry is all around us, in
nature and in the things we make and use.
The following familiar images were made with 3D shapes in the aspex Tabs
easy 3D software using combinations of cuboids, cylinders, cones, a
square based pyramid, prisms, sphere and a wedge shape. |
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Names of 3D Shapes
3D Shapes are the building blocks for designing models on the computer.
Draw shapes using the mouse in one simple operation, or use the 3D shape
creation wizard, or just drag them on to the
screen from the clipart folder.
All the shapes can be edited by scaling and stretching, moving
and rotating and adding colours to individual faces. They can be displayed as
nets, 3D shapes flattened out and
then printed, folded and glued to make 3D paper models. This exercise is an
invaluable way to familiarise children with the names of 3D shapes.
The following table shows
the 3D shapes names available in aspex Tabs.
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Cuboid |
Cylinder |
Cone |
Frustum of Cone |
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Regular Prism |
Irregular Prism |
Pyramid |
Sphere |
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Solid of Rotation |
Torus |
Frustum of Pyramid |
Wedge Shape |
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Tetrahedron |
Hexahedron |
Octahedron |
Dodecahedron |
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Icosahedron |
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It is very important for children to learn the names of 3D shapes. Some 3D
Shapes contain subsets each with their own names. For example, a set of
3D shapes might be grouped under the name 'pyramids' but this general term
includes a long list of pyramid shapes, a 'triangular based pyramid', a 'square based pyramid', a 'frustum of a
triangular based pyramid' and so on. Children use aspex Tabs to manipulate all
these 3D shapes, design models with them and in the process become familiar with
all their different names and what they mean. |
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Regular Prism |
| Triangular Prism
Rectangular Prism
Pentagonal Prism
Hexagonal Prism
Heptagonal Prism |
Octagonal Prism Nonagonal Prism
Decagonal Prism
Undecagonal Prism
Dodecagonal Prism
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Dodecagonal Prism |
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Irregular Prism |
| The user can define any irregular prism shape by drawing the
cross-section with the mouse and then setting the length of the shape.
A stair case for example, a cross, a simple motor car shape etc. |
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Irregular prism |
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Pyramid |
| Triangular Pyramid Rectangular Pyramid
Pentagonal Pyramid
Hexagonal Pyramid
Heptagonal Pyramid
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Octagonal Pyramid Nonagonal Pyramid
Decagonal Pyramid
Undecagonal Pyramid
Dodecagonal Pyramid |
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Dodecagonal Pyramid |
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Frustum of Pyramid |
| Frustum of a Triangular Prism Frustum of a
Rectangular Prism
Frustum of a Pentagonal Prism
Frustum of a Hexagonal Prism
Frustum of a Heptagonal Prism
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Frustum of an Octagonal Prism Frustum of a
Nonagonal Prism
Frustum of a Decagonal Prism
Frustum of an Undecagonal Prism
Frustum of a Dodecagonal Prism
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Frustum of a
Dodecagonal Prism |
| Shape Dimensions
The dimensions for each 3d shape can be set by using the mouse to change the size
of the shape or by keyboard input via a create shape assistant. Dimensions can
be set to display when a shape is selected. Below are some examples of 3d shapes
with their dimensions together with some nets of shapes with the main dimension
parameters shown. |
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Platonic SolidsAll the shapes can be displayed on the
screen and printed out with colours or images on each face, or as a
solid line shape or one showing the hidden lines. Here is an example of
the dodecahedron platonic solid rendered with colour, just with lines
and with hidden lines showing. |
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3d shape rendered with colours |
3d shape rendered with lines |
3d shape showing the hidden lines |
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"We use tabs+
in Maths,
it's great." |
"it was the best received
strand of our technology
focused courses."
"…my pupils are making boxes for
their projects at the moment.
The work
looks good,
the software
is great."
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