Origami Project

Jack Koshko
January 7, 2014
Acre/Gravel - 9C




Jack Koshko
January 7, 2014
Acre/Gravel - 9C
2


Origami Project

What is a cube inside of a cube? How do you make one? For this project I constructed a
cube inside of a cube. The first thing you have to do is get the paper to build the cubes. Once you
have the paper you can start folding the paper. Then you fold the pieces for the outer cube and
then put it together using the directions below. Then you fold the pieces for the inner cube and
then put it together using the directions below. After you construct the two cubes you put the
smaller one inside the bigger one. Then you must find the surface area and volume of the cubes,
also using the directions below. Now here is how to do it.

In order to build the outer cube, you need 12 pieces of paper, each 6 inches by 6 inches.
In my opinion, it would look better if you use different colored paper. For example, you could
use 8 pieces of green paper and 4 pieces of blue paper.

When you are folding the pieces of paper for the outer cube, you will use these steps:
1. Start with the 6 inch by 6 inch piece of paper with one side being white and the other
side being colored and fold it in half, with the colored side facing out.

2. Then open up the paper, with the color side facing out and fold the two outside edges
to the middle (fold line) at an equal distance.
Jack Koshko
January 7, 2014
Acre/Gravel - 9C
3


3. Then fold the upper right corner, rotate the figure 180 degrees, and repeat.

4. Flip the paper over so the open edges are not showing.

5. Take the right edge of the paper and fold it to the top edge of the paper through the
upper right vertex, rotate 180 degrees, and repeat.

6. Then take the biggest square in the figure and fold the two sides with the white edges
together with the color side facing out.
Jack Koshko
January 7, 2014
Acre/Gravel - 9C
4


7. Finally take the big white square and take the far corner of the square and fold it in
half, then rotate the figure 180 degrees, and repeat.

8. Repeat this process until you have 12 figures (8 green, 4 blue).
The flaps on the ends of each figure will be used to connect to each other.

When you are building the outer cube, you will use these steps:
1. First, take one of the blue figures and hold it up vertically. Then take one of the green
figures and hold it horizontally next to the vertical one. You can then connect the two
pieces using the flaps that you slide into each other.

2. Then take another green figure and hold it up to the two connected pieces but on the
opposite side of the first green figure. Then connect the new figure with the old figure
using the flaps on the two pieces.
Jack Koshko
January 7, 2014
Acre/Gravel - 9C
5


3. Then repeat this process three more times so you have a total of four figures for the
cube.

4. Once you have the four figures you can start connecting them. So take two of the
figures and hold them next to each other with the blue pieces being vertical and the
green pieces being horizontal. Then using the flaps you can connect the two figures
together.

5. After you have two figures connected you can then connect a third figure. With the
blue piece being vertical and green pieces being horizontal, connect the figures using
the flaps on the ends of the figures.
Jack Koshko
January 7, 2014
Acre/Gravel - 9C
6


6. Finally, when you have the first three figures connected, you can then connect the last
figure. With the blue piece being vertical and the green pieces being horizontal, you
can use the flaps to finally connect the last figure to the rest of the cube.

Now you have your finished outer cube.

To build the inner cube, you need 6 pieces of paper, each 6 inches by 6 inches. In my
opinion, it would look better if you use different colored paper. For example, you could use 4
pieces of purple paper and 2 pieces of red paper.

When you are folding the pieces of paper for the inner cube, you will use these steps:
1. Start with the 6 inch by 6 inch piece of paper with one side being white and the other side
being colored and then fold it in half, with the colored side facing out.

Jack Koshko
January 7, 2014
Acre/Gravel - 9C
7

2. Then open up the paper, with the color side facing down, and fold the two edges to the
middle (fold line) at an equal distance.

3. Then flip the paper over so the open edges are not showing.

4. Then take the right edge of the paper and fold it to the top edge of the paper through the
upper right vertex.

5. Then rotate the entire figure 180 degrees and repeat step 4.

6. After that, you take the top edge of the figure and fold it to the middle line which was
created by the folds.
Jack Koshko
January 7, 2014
Acre/Gravel - 9C
8


7. Then rotate the entire figure 180 degrees and repeat step 6.

8. Repeat this process until you have 6 figures (4 purple, 2 red).
The two right triangles formed will be used to connect into the flaps of the other figures
built.

When you are building the inner cube, you will use these steps:
1. First you take one of the red figures and one of the purple figures and using the flaps,
connect the two pieces together, putting the purple piece into the red piece.

2. Then take a purple figure and using the flaps, connect it to the cube, opposite from the
other purple figure.
Jack Koshko
January 7, 2014
Acre/Gravel - 9C
9


3. Then rotate the cube and add a red piece. Again, using the flaps, connect the two figures
so that the red figures are opposite to each other and the purple figures are opposite to
each other.

4. After that, you can then rotate the cube and take another purple piece and add it to the
cube. Using the flaps, connect the figure to the cube on one of the empty sides.

5. Finally, take the last remaining purple figure and with the flaps, connect it to the cube on
the only open side left.

Jack Koshko
January 7, 2014
Acre/Gravel - 9C
10

Now you have your finished inner cube. You can now add this to the outer cube by
squeezing the inner cube into one of the holes of the outer cube to finish the building
process and make a cube inside of a cube.

When you are finding the surface area of a cube, you can use the formula: y=6s
2
(y equals
6 times s squared), with s standing for the length of the sides. To solve the equation, you
first find the length of the sides. When you find the length of the sides, you plug it into the
equation of y=6s
2
. The length of the side of the smaller cube is 1.5root2 inches so when you plug
it in for s, you get the answer of 27 inches squared.
y=6s
2

y=6(1.5root2)
2
y=6(4.5)
y=27 inches squared

The length of the side of the larger cube is 3root2 inches so when you plug it in for s, you get
the answer of 108 inches squared.
y=6s
2

y=6(3root2)
2

y=6(18)
y= 108 inches squared
Jack Koshko
January 7, 2014
Acre/Gravel - 9C
11


When you are finding the volume of a cube, you can use the formula: y=s
3
(y equals s
cubed), with s standing for the length of the sides. To solve the equation, you first find the
length of the sides. Then, when you get the length of the sides, you plug it into the equation of
y=s
3
. The length of the smaller cube is 1.5root2 inches, so when you plug that into s, you get
the answer of 6.75root2 inches cubed.
Y=s
3

y= (1.5root2)
3

y= 6.75root2 inches cubed
The length of the side of the larger cube is 3root2 inches so when you plug it in for s, you get
the answer of 54root2 inches cubed.
Y=s
3

y= (3root2)
3

y= 54root2 inches cubed
To find the volume of the empty space of the cube, you would take the volume of the larger cube
and subtract the volume of the smaller cube, which would equal 47.25root2 inches cubed.
Y=54root2-6.75root2
y= 47.25root2 inches cubed

Jack Koshko
January 7, 2014
Acre/Gravel - 9C
12

So in this project, I had to build a cube inside of a cube. I first had to build a larger, outer
cube and then I had to build a smaller, inner cube. I also had to find the surface area and volume
of each cube and find the volume of the empty space in the entire figure. Using a couple
formulas made it easier to find the surface area and volume. Now if a friend ever needs help
making a cube inside of a cube, you will always have a resource to help them out. But in
conclusion this was my project and this was how I did it.