Surface that can be flattened out by unfolding it into simpler surfaces.
A surface is said to have a net when a pattern of it can be produced on a flat and flexible material such as paper, carton, fabric, etc., such that the corresponding solid can be rebuilt through folding.
Examples
- A conical-surface, a cylindrical surface, and the lateral surface of a prism are surfaces that have a net.
- Net of a semi-regular cuboctahedron.
- A sphere, a hemisphere, a paraboloid of revolution and a hyperboloid of revolution are surfaces that do not have nets.