Cuboids are familiar objects you encounter numerous times in your daily life. Formed exclusively from rectangles, cuboids are essentially boxes. These familiar shapes are also known as rectangular prisms. When comparing cuboids and cubes, it is important to remember that all cubes are cuboids, but not all cuboids are cubes. These two geometric figures have numerous similarities but only one difference.

Both cubes and cuboids have six faces, 12 edges and eight vertices, or corners. Each edge is shared by two faces. At each vertex, three faces join together.

Cubes and cuboids contain exclusively right angles.

The formulas for finding the volume and surface area of cubes and cuboids are the same. To find the volume, simply multiply the height by the width by the length (or depth). To calculate the surface area, find the product of two times the width times the length. Then, multiply two times the length times the height. Next, multiply two times the height times the width. Finally, add all three products together.

The only difference between cubes and cuboids is the shape of the six faces. Each face of a cube is a square, and all of these squares are of equal size. Each face of a cuboid is a rectangle. At least four of these rectangles will be identical.