Frustum of a Pyramid

GROUP 8

MEMBERS:
ALARBA, APAYART, BESARES, GICOLE, SAROL

What is a Frustum of Pyramid?

The frustum of a

pyramid or truncated
pyramid is the result of
cutting a pyramid by a plane
parallel to the base and
separating the part containing
the apex.
A pyramidal frustum is

a frustum made by chopping

the top off a pyramid.
This is a frustum of a Pyramid.

Properties of A Frustum of A Pyramid

The lateral edges of a frustum of a regular

pyramid are equal, and the faces are equal isosceles

trapezoids.
The height of the pyramidal frustum is the

perpendicular distance between the bases.

The apothem is a line segment from the center to

the midpoint of one of its sides.

Properties of A Frustum of A Pyramid

The slant height of a frustum of a regular pyramid

is the altitude of the face.

The bases of a frustum of a regular pyramid are

similar regular polygons. If these polygons become

equal, the frustum will become prism.

Parts of a Frustum of a Pyramid

A1

S1

P1

sl
P2
S2
A2

Elements in a Pyramidal Frustum

Definitions of Terms:
P1 = Perimeter of the Larger Base
P2 = Perimeter of the Smaller Base
AP1 = Apothem of the Smaller Base
AP2 = Apothem of the Larger Base
A1 = Area of the Larger Base
A2 = Area of the Smaller Base
h = height of the Truncated Pyramid
Sl = Slant Height of Truncated Pyramid
S = Side of the Base (could be S1 and S2)

More Facts about the Frustum of a Pyramid

Bases commonly are the following:

Triangle
Square
Pentagon
But could be also be a:

N-gon (not discussed, too complex)

Circumcircle, Incircle, Radius and Apothem

Sounds quite musical if you repeat it a

few times, but they are just the names

of the "outer" and "inner" circles (and
each radius) that can be drawn on a
polygon like this:
The "outside" circle is called

a circumcircle, and it connects all

vertices (corner points) of the polygon.
The radius of the circumcircle is also

the radius of the polygon.

Circumcircle, Incircle, Radius and Apothem

The "inside" circle is called

an incircle and it just touches

each side of the polygon at its
midpoint.
The radius of the incircle is
the apothem of the polygon.
(Not all polygons have those
properties, but triangles and
regular polygons do).

Acquiring the Apothem of the Base

The small triangle is right-angled and so we can

use sine, cosine and tangent to find how the side,

radius, apothem and "n" are related:

Apothem of a Triangle
The side of an inscribed
equilateral triangle is:
By applying the Pythagorean
theorem for the small red
triangle, we obtain:

Area of the Bases

We all know the formulas for the

Area of a Square:
Formula: ATRIANGLE= (Base x Height)
Formula: ASQUARE= (Side x Side)
Formula: APENTAGON = 5 (Ap x Side)

Area of the Bases (Example)

Area of the Bases (Example)

Apothem of a Pyramidal Frustum

To calculate the apothem of a pyramidal

frustum, the height, the apothem of the biggest

base and the apothem of the minor base must be
known. Apply the Pythagorean theorem to determine
the apothem:

Sl

Apothem of a Pyramidal Frustum

Sl
sl

Sl

Area and Volume of a Pyramidal Frustum

Lateral Area:

LA = (P1 + P2 )sl
Total Area:

ATOTAL
= 1/2 (P1 + P2 )sl + A1 + A2
Volume:

= 1/3(h) (A1 + A2 + ( A1 A2))

Example
Calculate the lateral area, surface area and volume of

the truncated square pyramid whose larger base edge

is 24, smaller base edge is 14 cm and whose lateral
edge is 13 cm.

THATS IT!

Congratulations!
You are now fully equipped with
knowledge! *applauds*