Mathematics Grade 8: Determining the Distance Between Two Points on the Surface of a Solid

By the end of this lesson, you will be able to determine the shortest distance between two points on the surface of a solid by unfolding three-dimensional shapes into flat two-dimensional nets and applying the Pythagorean theorem [STEM]. When finding the shortest distance between two points in space, we use a straight line. However, when traveling strictly on the surface of a solid (like an ant crawling on a box), the shortest path is found by flattening the solid's surface into a net.