Leo+DadMade for Leo
Views of Prisms and Solids
Rung 2 of 3 · The method

Matching a Solid to Its Views

One reliable habit: stand at each direction in your head, squash the solid flat onto the wall behind it, and draw what's left. Let's drill it.


PractiseRead the question, pick the matching flat shape, then hit “new solid”.
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Audio WalkthroughComing Soon
Video ExplainerComing Soon

Finding a view is the same routine every time: choose your direction, flatten the solid onto an imaginary wall behind it, and trace the outline. Three steps, no formula.

The Three Moves

One — pick the direction. Front, side or top. Decide where you're standing.

Two — squash it flat. Imagine pressing the whole solid onto a flat wall in that direction. Anything behind another part just hides behind it — depth disappears.

Three — draw the outline you'd see. That flat shape is the view. Width and height of that shape come straight from the solid.

A Worked One

Take a cuboid that's 3 wide, 2 deep and 2 tall. Front view: stand in front and squash — you see a 3-wide, 2-tall rectangle (depth vanishes). Side view: step round — now you see a 2-wide (that's the depth), 2-tall rectangle. Top view: climb up and look down — you see the footprint, a 3-wide, 2-deep rectangle. Three rectangles, all different sizes, all from one box.

Say it plainly: for each view, ask "what would I see if I squashed the solid flat looking from here?" The front uses width × height, the side uses depth × height, the top uses width × depth.

Spotting the Trap Before Rung 3

In the toy, the wrong tiles are usually the solid's other views — the side view offered when you were asked for the front, say. That's deliberate: the most common mistake is grabbing a view that's correct for the solid but for the wrong direction. Always check which direction the question asked for.

Us, Thinking Out Loud

Could you talk me through the three moves for a solid you make up yourself?

Which direction did you find hardest to picture — and what helped?