Question

Which best describes the lateral faces of all prisms? parallelograms squares rhombi rectangles?

Answer 1

Parallelograms would the safe and correct description for the lateral faces of all prisms. Any of the shapes mentioned satisfy the properties and description of parallelogram. The properties of shapes squares rhombus rectangles like opposite sides parallel, opposite angles equal and so on are a sub set of properties of parallelogram.

Answer 2

Any face on a prism that is not a base is a lateral face (see the attached image). The prism in the picture has a hexagonal base (6 sided) and 6 lateral faces. The lateral faces meet each other at lateral edges, as well as meeting both bases. Each lateral face is a polygon with four sides. All edges of the laterals are the same size and parallel. This makes the lateral faces parallelograms, containing a 4-sided figure with opposite sides that are parallel.