CBSE • Class 8Mathematics • Chapter 9

MensurationNCERT Solutions, AI Tutor & Practice

Area of a trapezium, general quadrilateral and polygons; surface area and volume of a cube, cuboid and cylinder.

Aligned to the latest NCERT 2024-25 edition • 3 exercises covered • Free plan, no credit card

What you will learn

  • Compute area of trapezium, quadrilateral and irregular polygons
  • Compute surface area of cube, cuboid and cylinder
  • Compute volume of cube, cuboid and cylinder

Key concepts in this chapter

Trapezium areaSurface areaVolumeCubeCuboidCylinder

Frequently asked NCERT questions in this chapter

  1. Find the area of a trapezium with parallel sides 8 cm and 14 cm and height 5 cm.
  2. Find the total surface area of a cylinder with radius 7 cm and height 10 cm.
  3. A cuboidal water tank is 2 m by 1.5 m by 1 m. How many litres can it hold?

Step-by-step NCERT solutions

12 solved questions • Each solution includes a Socratic hint, full working and a common-mistake callout • Last reviewed 2026-09-03

Q1 • 2 marks

A rectangular field is 60 m long and 40 m wide. Find the area of the field and the length of the boundary (perimeter) around it.
Hint (Socratic — try this first)
Which formula gives the space inside the rectangle, and which gives the length around it?
Step-by-step solution

For a rectangle:

  • Area =length×breadth=60×40=2400 m2= \text{length} \times \text{breadth} = 60 \times 40 = 2400 \text{ m}^2
  • Perimeter =2(length+breadth)=2(60+40)=2×100=200 m= 2(\text{length} + \text{breadth}) = 2(60 + 40) = 2 \times 100 = 200 \text{ m}

So the area is 2400 m22400 \text{ m}^2 and the boundary length is 200 m200 \text{ m}.

Common mistake:
Confusing area with perimeter, or forgetting to multiply the sum of length and breadth by 2 when finding perimeter.
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Q2 • 2 marks

Find the area of a trapezium whose parallel sides are 12 cm and 8 cm, and the perpendicular distance between them is 5 cm.
Hint (Socratic — try this first)
What do you get when you add the two parallel sides and multiply by the height, then halve it?
Step-by-step solution

Area of a trapezium =12×(sum of parallel sides)×height= \dfrac{1}{2} \times (\text{sum of parallel sides}) \times \text{height}

Substituting the values:

Area=12×(12+8)×5=12×20×5=50 cm2\text{Area} = \frac{1}{2} \times (12 + 8) \times 5 = \frac{1}{2} \times 20 \times 5 = 50 \text{ cm}^2

So the area of the trapezium is 50 cm250 \text{ cm}^2.

Common mistake:
Using the slant sides instead of the perpendicular height, or forgetting to multiply by 12\frac{1}{2}.
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Q3 • 3 marks

The area of a rhombus is 240 cm² and one of its diagonals is 16 cm. Find the length of the other diagonal.
Hint (Socratic — try this first)
How is the area of a rhombus related to the product of its two diagonals?
Step-by-step solution

Area of a rhombus =12×d1×d2= \dfrac{1}{2} \times d_1 \times d_2

Given area =240 cm2= 240 \text{ cm}^2 and d1=16 cmd_1 = 16 \text{ cm}.

240=12×16×d2240 = \frac{1}{2} \times 16 \times d_2

240=8×d2240 = 8 \times d_2

d2=2408=30 cmd_2 = \frac{240}{8} = 30 \text{ cm}

So the other diagonal is 30 cm30 \text{ cm}.

Common mistake:
Forgetting the factor of 12\frac{1}{2} in the rhombus area formula, which gives a wrong (halved) diagonal.
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Q4 • 3 marks

Find the area of a regular hexagon whose diagonal splits it into two identical trapeziums, given each parallel side is 5 cm and 11 cm with height 4 cm.
Hint (Socratic — try this first)
Can the total figure be seen as two equal trapeziums added together?
Step-by-step solution

The hexagon is divided into two congruent trapeziums, each with parallel sides 5 cm5 \text{ cm} and 11 cm11 \text{ cm} and height 4 cm4 \text{ cm}.

Area of one trapezium:

=12×(5+11)×4=12×16×4=32 cm2= \frac{1}{2} \times (5 + 11) \times 4 = \frac{1}{2} \times 16 \times 4 = 32 \text{ cm}^2

Total area of hexagon =2×32=64 cm2= 2 \times 32 = 64 \text{ cm}^2.

Common mistake:
Finding the area of only one trapezium and forgetting to double it for the full hexagon.
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Q5 • 3 marks

A cuboidal box has dimensions 15 cm × 10 cm × 8 cm. Find its total surface area.
Hint (Socratic — try this first)
How many pairs of identical rectangular faces does a cuboid have?
Step-by-step solution

Total surface area of a cuboid =2(lb+bh+hl)= 2(lb + bh + hl)

Here l=15l = 15, b=10b = 10, h=8h = 8.

=2(15×10+10×8+8×15)= 2(15 \times 10 + 10 \times 8 + 8 \times 15)

=2(150+80+120)= 2(150 + 80 + 120)

=2×350=700 cm2= 2 \times 350 = 700 \text{ cm}^2

So the total surface area is 700 cm2700 \text{ cm}^2.

Common mistake:
Adding only two products instead of all three, or forgetting to multiply the whole bracket by 2.
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Q6 • 3 marks

The lateral surface area of a cube is 144 cm². Find the length of its edge and its total surface area.
Hint (Socratic — try this first)
The lateral surface of a cube consists of how many equal square faces?
Step-by-step solution

Lateral surface area of a cube =4a2= 4a^2, where aa is the edge.

4a2=144    a2=36    a=6 cm4a^2 = 144 \implies a^2 = 36 \implies a = 6 \text{ cm}

Total surface area of a cube =6a2=6×36=216 cm2= 6a^2 = 6 \times 36 = 216 \text{ cm}^2.

So the edge is 6 cm6 \text{ cm} and total surface area is 216 cm2216 \text{ cm}^2.

Common mistake:
Using 6a26a^2 instead of 4a24a^2 for the lateral surface area, giving a wrong edge length.
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Q7 • 3 marks

Find the curved surface area and total surface area of a cylinder with radius 7 cm and height 10 cm. (Use π=227\pi = \tfrac{22}{7}.)
Hint (Socratic — try this first)
What extra do you add to the curved surface to get the total surface of a closed cylinder?
Step-by-step solution

Curved surface area (CSA) =2πrh= 2\pi r h

=2×227×7×10=2×22×10=440 cm2= 2 \times \frac{22}{7} \times 7 \times 10 = 2 \times 22 \times 10 = 440 \text{ cm}^2

Total surface area (TSA) =2πr(r+h)= 2\pi r(r + h)

=2×227×7×(7+10)=44×17=748 cm2= 2 \times \frac{22}{7} \times 7 \times (7 + 10) = 44 \times 17 = 748 \text{ cm}^2

So CSA =440 cm2= 440 \text{ cm}^2 and TSA =748 cm2= 748 \text{ cm}^2.

Common mistake:
Forgetting to include the two circular ends (adding 2πr22\pi r^2) when computing the total surface area.
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Q8 • 3 marks

Find the volume of a cuboid whose length, breadth and height are 12 cm, 9 cm and 5 cm respectively. Also express this volume in litres.
Hint (Socratic — try this first)
How many cubic centimetres make one litre?
Step-by-step solution

Volume of cuboid =l×b×h=12×9×5=540 cm3= l \times b \times h = 12 \times 9 \times 5 = 540 \text{ cm}^3

Since 1000 cm3=1 litre1000 \text{ cm}^3 = 1 \text{ litre}:

540 cm3=5401000=0.54 litres540 \text{ cm}^3 = \frac{540}{1000} = 0.54 \text{ litres}

So the volume is 540 cm3540 \text{ cm}^3 or 0.540.54 litres.

Common mistake:
Using the wrong conversion (e.g. dividing by 100 instead of 1000) when changing cm³ to litres.
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Q9 • 3 marks

A cylindrical tank has a radius of 3.5 m and height 4 m. Find the volume of water it can hold. (Use π=227\pi = \tfrac{22}{7}.)
Hint (Socratic — try this first)
Which formula multiplies the circular base area by the height?
Step-by-step solution

Volume of cylinder =πr2h= \pi r^2 h

=227×(3.5)2×4= \frac{22}{7} \times (3.5)^2 \times 4

=227×12.25×4= \frac{22}{7} \times 12.25 \times 4

=22×12.25×47=10787=154 m3= \frac{22 \times 12.25 \times 4}{7} = \frac{1078}{7} = 154 \text{ m}^3

So the tank can hold 154 m3154 \text{ m}^3 of water.

Common mistake:
Forgetting to square the radius, or squaring the diameter instead of the radius.
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Q10 • 4 marks

Two cubes each of edge 4 cm are joined end to end to form a cuboid. Find the total surface area of the resulting cuboid.
Hint (Socratic — try this first)
When two cubes join, what happens to the two faces that stick together?
Step-by-step solution

When two cubes of edge 4 cm4 \text{ cm} are joined, the resulting cuboid has:

  • Length =4+4=8 cm= 4 + 4 = 8 \text{ cm}
  • Breadth =4 cm= 4 \text{ cm}
  • Height =4 cm= 4 \text{ cm}

Total surface area =2(lb+bh+hl)= 2(lb + bh + hl)

=2(8×4+4×4+4×8)= 2(8 \times 4 + 4 \times 4 + 4 \times 8)

=2(32+16+32)=2×80=160 cm2= 2(32 + 16 + 32) = 2 \times 80 = 160 \text{ cm}^2

So the total surface area of the cuboid is 160 cm2160 \text{ cm}^2.

Common mistake:
Simply adding the surface areas of the two separate cubes (2 × 96 = 192 cm²) without subtracting the two hidden joined faces.
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Q11 • 4 marks

A metal pipe is 21 cm long. Its inner radius is 4 cm and outer radius is 5 cm. Find the total volume of metal used. (Use π=227\pi = \tfrac{22}{7}.)
Hint (Socratic — try this first)
Can you find the volume of the solid outer cylinder and subtract the hollow inner part?
Step-by-step solution

Volume of metal == (volume of outer cylinder) - (volume of inner cylinder)

=πR2hπr2h=πh(R2r2)= \pi R^2 h - \pi r^2 h = \pi h (R^2 - r^2)

Here R=5R = 5, r=4r = 4, h=21h = 21.

=227×21×(5242)= \frac{22}{7} \times 21 \times (5^2 - 4^2)

=227×21×(2516)= \frac{22}{7} \times 21 \times (25 - 16)

=22×3×9=594 cm3= 22 \times 3 \times 9 = 594 \text{ cm}^3

So the volume of metal used is 594 cm3594 \text{ cm}^3.

Common mistake:
Computing (Rr)2(R - r)^2 instead of (R2r2)(R^2 - r^2), which gives a completely wrong result.
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Q12 • 4 marks

A rectangular sheet of paper 44 cm × 20 cm is rolled along its length to form a cylinder. Find the volume of the cylinder so formed. (Use π=227\pi = \tfrac{22}{7}.)
Hint (Socratic — try this first)
When rolled along the length, which side becomes the circumference and which becomes the height?
Step-by-step solution

When the sheet is rolled along its length (44 cm), that side becomes the circumference of the base and the other side (20 cm) becomes the height.

Step 1: Find the radius from the circumference.

2πr=44    2×227×r=442\pi r = 44 \implies 2 \times \frac{22}{7} \times r = 44

447r=44    r=7 cm\frac{44}{7} r = 44 \implies r = 7 \text{ cm}

Step 2: Height h=20 cmh = 20 \text{ cm}.

Step 3: Volume =πr2h= \pi r^2 h

=227×72×20=227×49×20=22×7×20=3080 cm3= \frac{22}{7} \times 7^2 \times 20 = \frac{22}{7} \times 49 \times 20 = 22 \times 7 \times 20 = 3080 \text{ cm}^3

So the volume of the cylinder is 3080 cm33080 \text{ cm}^3.

Common mistake:
Confusing which dimension becomes the circumference and which becomes the height when the sheet is rolled.
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How to solve Mensuration on Mindarc

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FAQs about this chapter

What is the difference between total surface area and lateral surface area of a cylinder?+

Lateral surface area is the curved side only, equal to 2πrh. Total surface area also includes the two circular ends, so it equals 2πrh + 2πr².

All Class 8 Mathematics chapters

  1. 1.Rational Numbers
  2. 2.Linear Equations in One Variable
  3. 3.Understanding Quadrilaterals
  4. 4.Data Handling
  5. 5.Squares and Square Roots
  6. 6.Cubes and Cube Roots
  7. 7.Comparing Quantities
  8. 8.Algebraic Expressions and Identities
  9. 9.Mensuration
  10. 10.Exponents and Powers
  11. 11.Direct and Inverse Proportions
  12. 12.Factorisation
  13. 13.Introduction to Graphs

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