Frustum of a Right Circular Cone Page 1 of 2

Frustum of a right circular cone is that portion of right circular cone included between
the base and a section parallel to the base not passing through the vertex.

Properties of Frustum of Right Circular Cone

• The altitude of a frustum of a right circular cone is the perpendicular distance

between the two bases. It is denoted by h.
• All elements of a frustum of a right circular cone are equal. It is denoted by L.

Formulas for Frustum of Right Circular Cone

Area of lower base, A1

Area of upper base, A2

Lateral Area, AL
The lateral area of the frustum of a right circular cone is equal to one-half the sum of
the circumference of the bases multiplied by slant height. See the derivation of the
formula for lateral area of frustum of a right circular cone.

Let C and c, the circumference of lower and upper bases, respectively.

A more convenient formula is when we substitute C = 2πR and c = 2πr, giving us

Volume, V
The volume of a frustum of any cone is equal to one-third of the product of the altitude
and the sum of the upper base, the lower base, and the mean proportional between
the two bases. See the derivation of formula for the volume of any frustum.

For any Frustum, the volume is

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Frustum of a Right Circular Cone Page 2 of 2

For frustum of right circular cone, A1 = πR2 and A2 = πr2. Thus,

The relationship between the lower base radius R, upper base radius r, altitude h, and
element L is given by

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