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Primary 6 · Chapter 10

Primary 6 Solids Question Types

Read nets and views of solids, count exposed faces, and practise drawing on a grid.

Self-paced lessons · Modelled on top school exam questions · No sign-up for the samples

The Solids chapter

Watch · The introduction

Turn a net into a solid

Start by seeing how cube faces join, then count exposed faces and read the views of joined cubes.

Explore the introductory lesson →

Try · Modelled on top school exam questions

Try three questions, from easier to harder

Try each question yourself first, then check your answer or compare it with the solution. These questions are written by Mathweave, not copied from school papers. No sign-up is needed.

Question 1 of 3

Opposite faces on a cube net

Track the faces as the net folds around the cube.

The figure below shows the net of a cube. Four of its faces are numbered 1, 2, 3 and 4, and one face is shaded. When the net is folded, the two numbers on each pair of opposite faces add up to 7. What number goes on the shaded face?

Show the step-by-step solution
  1. the shaded face and face 2 are the 1st and 3rd squares of the same panel of 4, so they fold opposite each other
  2. the numbers on a pair of opposite faces add up to 7
  3. shaded face = 7 - 2 = 5

Ans: 5

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Question 2 of 3

Count the glued faces

Account for both faces hidden at each join.

Seven unit cubes are glued together to form the solid shown. The seven cubes have 42 faces between them. How many of those 42 faces are glued to a face of another cube?

Show the step-by-step solution
  1. the middle cube is glued to the 4 arm cubes = 4 joins
  2. the middle cube is glued to the cube above it = 1 join
  3. the two stacked cubes are glued to each other = 1 join
  4. joins = 4 + 1 + 1 = 6
  5. glued faces = 6 x 2 = 12

Ans: 12

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Question 3 of 3

Use two views together

The front and side views constrain the fewest cubes in the solid.

A solid is built from unit cubes on a table, each cube resting on the table or on another cube. Its front view is three columns of squares, 2, 3 and 2 squares high, and its side view is two columns of squares, 3 and 2 squares high. What is the smallest number of unit cubes the solid can be built from?

Show the step-by-step solution
  1. the front view needs one stack 3 high and two stacks 2 high, in three different left-to-right places
  2. the side view needs a row 3 high and a row 2 high
  3. the 3-high stack can stand in the front row, so it answers the front view and the side view at once
  4. one 2-high stack can stand in the back row, so it answers the front view and the side view at once
  5. fewest cubes = 3 + 2 + 2 = 7

Ans: 7

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Continue with the method you need

Follow a lesson link beside a question, or browse the chapter below.

See practice plans See how practice works

The chapter · Four question types

Primary 6 solids questions by question type

A linked row opens a published lesson with its own film. Explore the explanation and available practice on that page.

Mixed practice, where the types return unannounced and unlabelled, is a chapter-level activity. It has no lesson page of its own.

The order · Two groups

The order to learn them

  1. Cubes: folded, filled and painted

    10.1 to 10.3

  2. Figures built by counting, not by eye

    10.4

The number tells you where a question type sits in this chapter, not what your child needs to learn first. A child who has already met a type in school can practise it without working through the ones above it.

The papers · Modelled against top school papers

How Paper 1 and Paper 2 set these questions

The PSLE Maths format from 2026.

Paper 1 has 30 questions for 50 marks: 18 multiple-choice questions and 12 short-answer questions. Paper 2 has 15 questions for 50 marks: 5 short-answer questions and 10 structured or long-answer questions.

Source: SEAB examination syllabus, from 2026

Paper 1 asks for a choice; Paper 2 may require a count or drawing.

A Paper 1 item here is usually one figure and one decision, picked from four options: which of these folds into a cube, which face ends up opposite this one. The higher-mark items appear in Paper 2, where a solid built from unit cubes is counted, filled or stripped back to two given views, and where the answer itself is sometimes a figure the child has to draw on a grid for marks.

Earlier geometry is examined again in Primary 6.

Nets of a cube are a Primary 4 outcome in the current MOE syllabus, building solids with unit cubes and reading them from the front, the side and the top are Primary 5 ones, and copying a figure on a dot grid begins earlier still. The exam sets all of them again, so this chapter teaches them in the form used in Primary 6.

Everything here is modelled against top school papers. Those papers are never reproduced, and every question on this site is original.

Written working · Clear methods, line by line

How to set out the working clearly

These examples show Mathweave's clear, consistent layout for each method. The layout is informed by the answer keys we reviewed.

  • Start from six faces and subtract each covered faceFor one cube, write 6 faces, minus 1 for each cube it is glued to, then minus 1 more for a face resting on an unpainted table, written out as 6 - 1 - 1 = 4. Keep the subtractions separate so both the join and the unpainted base remain visible.
  • List the adjacent faces before naming the opposite faceA cube face shares an edge with four faces and is opposite the only remaining face. Face L shares an edge with J, M, N and P, so K is the remaining face and is opposite L.
  • Use a column-height table to compare the viewsMathweave records the height of each column in a footprint table. Compare those heights with the two given views before adding or removing cubes. The reviewed keys generally return a drawing or a final count instead.
  • Count directed steps before drawing on the gridCount 4 squares right and 2 squares up before drawing. Repeat that directed pair for a parallel side, double both parts for a side twice as long, and rotate the pair through a quarter-turn for a perpendicular side. Use those counts to construct the answer on the supplied grid.

Parents · Asked and answered

Questions parents ask

Is this the PSLE syllabus?

The question types follow the latest MOE Primary Mathematics syllabus. The syllabus defines what is taught; the papers we model against show how it is examined.

Why is this a Primary 6 chapter when my child met nets earlier?

The exam is cumulative, and nets, solids built from unit cubes and figures drawn on a grid are set right through Primary 6, sometimes for three or four marks. So we teach that material here in the form used in Primary 6.

Are the questions from past papers?

We write the questions ourselves rather than copy them from papers. Each chapter is modelled on the types of question that top school papers set. A question may look like one your child has met before because it is the same type.

What does the practice add over the films?

Practice uses different numbers for each question type, points out the common mistake when your child makes it and records which types your child can complete independently. The type that is answered with a drawing is marked by the child against the worked construction, on paper.

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