Elementary geometry
How is a rectangular prism different than a cube?
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2 Answers
A rectangular prism has four faces that are rectangles and two faces that are squares.
A cube has six faces that are squares.
Let's start in two dimensions first:
A square is a rectangle with all sides equal. So all squares are rectangles, but not all rectangles are squares.
Similarly, a cube is a rectangular prism with all sides equal, and therefore all faces of equal area.
A rectangular prism will have 4 faces of equal area and 2 faces of equal area.
So a cube is a rectangular prism, but not all rectangular prisms are cubes.


