What Is a Platonic Solid?
A Platonic solid is a solid three-dimensional object whose faces are congruent regular polygons, or all the same size and shape. There are five Platonic solids, the most well-known example being the cube.
Other People Are Reading
-
History
-
The Platonic solids were named for Greek philosopher Plato, who described them in detail in his work. The Neolithic people of Scotland, however, were the first to develop the Platonic solids 1,000 years earlier.
Tetrahedron
-
Tetrahedron The regular tetrahedron is composed of four equilateral triangular faces, four vertices and six edges. At each vertex, three edges meet.
-
Hexahedron (Cube)
-
Hexahedron The most well-known of the Platonic solids, the hexahedron, or cube, is composed of six square faces that meet at right angles, eight vertices and 12 edges. At each vertex, three edges meet.
Octahedron
-
The octahedron is composed of eight equilateral triangular faces, six vertices and 12 edges. At each vertex, four edges meet.
Dodecahedron
-
Dodecahedron The dodecahedron is composed of 12 pentagonal faces, 20 vertices and 30 edges. At each vertex, three edges meet.
Icosahedron
-
Icosahedron The icosahedron is composed of 20 equilateral triangular faces, 12 vertices and 30 edges. At each vertex, five edges meet.
-
References
Resources
- Photo Credit Image by Flickr.com, courtesy of Jared Tarbell Image by Flickr.com, courtesy of Tim Schapker Image by Flickr.com, courtesy of Mikul Image by Flickr.com, courtesy of Lenore Edman Image by Flickr.com, courtesy of fdecomite
