page_title: Prism (geometry)
section_title: General, right and uniform prisms
hierarchical_section_title: Prism (geometry) / General, right and uniform prisms
caption_attribution_description: English: Truncated Triangular prism
context_page_description: In geometry, a prism is a polyhedron comprising an n-sided polygonal base, a second base which is a translated copy of the first, and n other faces joining corresponding sides of the two bases. All cross-sections parallel to the bases are translations of the bases. Prisms are named for their bases, so a prism with a pentagonal base is called a pentagonal prism. The prisms are a subclass of the prismatoids.
  Like many basic geometric terms, the word prism was first used in Euclid's Elements. Euclid defined the term in Book XI as “a solid figure contained by two opposite, equal and parallel planes, while the rest are parallelograms”, however in nine subsequent propositions using the term he included examples of triangular-based prisms. This inconsistency caused confusion amongst later geometricians.
context_section_description: A right prism is a prism in which the joining edges and faces are perpendicular to the base faces. This applies if the joining faces are rectangular. If the joining edges and faces are not perpendicular to the base faces, it is called an oblique prism. 
  For example a parallelepiped is an oblique prism of which the base is a parallelogram, or equivalently a polyhedron with six faces which are all parallelograms.
  A truncated prism is a prism with nonparallel top and bottom faces.
  Some texts may apply the term rectangular prism or square prism to both a right rectangular-sided prism and a right square-sided prism.  A right p-gonal prism with rectangular sides has a Schläfli symbol { } × {p}.
  A right rectangular prism is also called a cuboid, or informally a rectangular box. A right square prism is simply a square box, and may also be called a square cuboid. A right rectangular prism has Schläfli symbol { }×{ }×{ }.
  An n-prism, having regular polygon ends and rectangular sides, approaches a cylindrical solid as n approaches infinity.
  The term uniform prism or semiregular prism can be used for a right prism with square sides, since such prisms are in the set of uniform polyhedra. A uniform p-gonal prism has a Schläfli symbol t{2,p}. Right prisms with regular bases and equal edge lengths form one of the two infinite series of semiregular polyhedra, the other series being the antiprisms.
  The dual of a right prism is a bipyramid.
caption: A truncated triangular prism with its top face truncated at an oblique angle
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