Editing Cylinder (section)

===Right circular cylinders===
{{main|Right circular cylinder}}
The bare term ''cylinder'' often refers to a solid cylinder with circular ends perpendicular to the axis, that is, a right circular cylinder, as shown in the figure. The cylindrical surface without the ends is called an ''{{dfn|open cylinder}}''. The formulae for the [[surface area]] and the [[volume]] of a right circular cylinder have been known from early antiquity.

A right circular cylinder can also be thought of as the [[solid of revolution]] generated by rotating a rectangle about one of its sides. These cylinders are used in an integration technique (the "disk method") for obtaining volumes of solids of revolution.{{sfn|Swokowski|1983|p=283}}

A tall and thin ''needle cylinder'' has a height much greater than its diameter, whereas a short and wide ''disk cylinder'' has a diameter much greater than its height.