16Hit1600
Geometry and TrigonometryVery hardSurface area after cutting a cube

Geometry and Trigonometry practice question

A cube with edges of length 3 is cut into 27 cubes with edges of length 1. What is the total surface area of all 27 small cubes combined?

Answer: 162

Each small cube has 6 faces of area 1, so 6 square units each. 27 cubes: 27 × 6 = 162. (Cutting exposes new faces; the original cube had only 54.)

Common wrong answers

If you answered 27
27 is the number of small cubes, which is also the total volume.
If you answered 54
54 is the surface area of the ORIGINAL cube (6 × 3²). Cutting it exposes many new faces.
If you answered 108
108 is 54 × 2, doubling the original surface; the cut cubes have three times the original area.

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