The Five Platonic Solids

Name/S
ymbol
Tetrahedron
4{3}
Hexahedron
(cube) 6{4}
Octahedron
8{3}
Dodecahedr
on 12{5}
Icosahedron
20{3}
Faces 4 6 8 12 20
Edges 6 12 12 30 30
Vertices 4 8 6 20 12
Vertex
Configu
ration
{3, 3} {4, 3} {3, 4} {5, 3} {3, 5}
Symmet
ry
Tetrahedral T
d
Octahedral O
h
Octahedral O
h

Icosahedral
I
h

Icosahedral
I
h

Dual Tetrahedron Octahedron
Hexahedron
(cube)
Icosahedron
Dodecahedro
n
Volume
(edge =
1 unit)



Surface
Area





Circum
radius
(center-
vertex)


Midradi
us
(center-
edge)



Inradiu
s
(center-
face)





Dihedra
l Angle




(adjacen
t faces)
The simplest of polyhedra, the Platonic Solids are the convex polyhedra made of regular
convex polygons. They are all regular polyhedra, meaning all faces are congruent regular
polygons and all vertices are identical. (The faces and vertex configurations of regular
polyhedra may also be star polygons; the stellations of the dodecahedron are good examples.)
There are only five such polyhedra, as at least three polygons must meet at each vertex but
their interior angles must sum to less than 360. They can be described by Schlfli Symbol
{p,q}, C&R Symbol p
q
, or Wythoff Symbol q | 2 p, where q regular p-gons meet at a vertex.
The Platonic Solids are named after Plato (c. 350 BC), although it is now known that he was
not the first to discover them. Plato associated the cube, octahedron, icosahedron, tetrahedron
and dodecahedron with the elements, earth, wind, water, fire, and the cosmos, respectively.
If we let p = the number of edges bounding each face, q = the number of faces or edges at a
vertex, e = edges, v = vertices and f = faces, then:
f+v-e = 2
e = fp/2 <-> f = 2e/p <-> p = 2e/f
q = 2e/v <-> v = 2e/q <-> e = qv/2
The first formula is one of Leonhard Euler's theorems. (In general, f+v-e remains constant for
any topologically indentical polygon mesh.)
The duals of the Platonic solids can be formed by cutting off the vertices with planes that
pass through the centers of the surrounding faces. The center of each face becomes a vertex
of the dual. The duals of the Platonic Solids are other Platonic solids, except for the
tetrahedron, which is its own dual. In the dual polyhedron, f and v are swapped and e remains
constant. Duals can be overlayed such that the edges of either polyhedron form perpendicular
bisectors of the edges of the other.

Symmetries and Their Relations

The regular polyhedra are typically classified into three types of symmetry; tetrahedral,
octahedral and icosahedral. Tetrahedral symmetry is four axes of three-fold rotational
symmetry (one for each vertex) and six planes of reflectional symmetry (two for each edge
but opposite edges have them in common). Octahedral symmetry has three axes of four-fold
rotation, four axes of three-fold rotation (the same four as the tetrahedron), and nine
reflectional planes (six are the planes of tetrahedral symmetry). Icosahedral symmetry has 6
five-fold axes and 10 three-fold axes (including the four of octahedral symmetry), plus 15
reflectional planes.
Four non-contiguos vertices of the cube are the vertices of an inscribed tetrahedron.
Inscribing a tetrahedron in a cube this way gives them common axes of rotational symmetry
and six common reflectional planes of symmetry. The tetrahedron is also closely related to
the octahedron, which has the same symmetry as the cube. Adding a tetrahedron to four non-
contiguous faces of the octahedron forms a tetrahedron. This is because the dihedral angles of
the tetrahedron and octahedron are supplementary, meaning they sum to pi (180). Regular
tetrahedra and octahedra can perfectly tile in three dimensions.
Eight non-contiguous vertices of the dodecahedron are the vertices of an inscribed cube. This
also means that four of those eight vertices are the vertices of an inscribed tetrahedron. In
fact, ten tetrahedra can be inscribed in the dodecahedra, and the volume common to all ten is
an icosahedron. Similarily, five cubes can be inscribed in a dodecahedron. Another way to
relate the dodecahedron and icosahedron to the cube and octahedron is that it is possible to
align them in such a way that they have three pairs of edges parallel to the x, y and z axes.

The Golden Ratio and the Platonic Solids
The golden ratio is the positive number that satisfies the equations x
2
= x+1 and 1/x = x-1. Its
exact value is , and it is often denoted by the greek letter phi or tau . The golden ratio
is found frequently in nature and is often considered to be the most aesthetic ratio. It is also
the "most irrational" number, meaning the best rational approximations to it are as inaccurate
as is mathematically possible.
occurs many places in the platonic solids. The dihedral angle on the dodecahedron is
2*atan( ), and the dihedral angle on the icosahedron is 2*atan(
2
) or 2*atan( +1). The
midradius of the dodecahedron is similarly
2
/2 or ( +1)/2, and the midradius on the
icosahedron is /2. can be found as a factor in the other measurements of these polyhedra
too.
If you consider rectangles inscribed in the icosahedron and dodecahedron such that a pair of
opposite sides lie along opposite edges of the solid, the ratio of the lengths of these rectangles
would be twice the midradius over the edge length. This means that three perpendicular
golden rectangles can be inscribed in the icosahedron, and three perpendicular rectangles in
the ratio
2
can be inscribed in the dodecahedron.


History of Platonic Solids
The five regular polyhedra were discovered by the ancient Greeks. The
Pythagoreans knew of the tetrahedron, the cube, and the dodecahedron; the
mathematician Theaetetus added the octahedron and the icosahedron. These shapes
are also called the Platonic solids, after the ancient Greek philosopher Plato; Plato,
who greatly respected Theaetetus' work, speculated that these five solids were the
shapes of the fundamental components of the physical universe.
Platonic Solids - Info
Platonic
Solid
Picture
Numb
er of
Faces
Shape of
Faces
Numb
er of
Faces
at
Each
Vertex
Numb
er of
Vertice
s
Numb
er of
Edges
Unfolded
Polyhedron
(Net)
Dual (The
Platonic
Solid that
can be
inscribed
inside it by
connecting
the mid-
points of
the faces)
Tetrahedron

4
Equilater
al
Triangle
(3-sided)
3 4 6

Tetrahedron
Cube

6
Square
(4-sided)
3 8 12

Octahedron
Octahedron

8
Equilater
al
Triangle
(3-sided)
4 6 12

Cube
Dodecahedr
on

12
Regular
Pentago
n
(5-sided)
3 20 30

Icosahedron
Icosahedron

20
Equilater
al
Triangle
(3-sided)
5 12 30

Dodecahedr
on
Note: Euler's formula states that (The Number of Faces) + (The Number of
Vertices) - (The Number of Edges) = 2
Printable Worksheets and Activities


TETRAHEDRON
Make a paper tetrahedron, a
pyramid formed by four
triangles.

TETRAHEDRON FROM
A SMALL ENVELOPE
This is an incredibly
easy way to make a
tetrahedron (a
pyramid) from a small
envelope.


CUBE
Make a paper cube, a solid geometric
figure with six square faces.


OCTAHEDRON
Make a paper octahedron.
An octahedron is an eight-
sided regular geometric solid.


DODECAHEDRON
Make a paper
dodecahedron. A
dodecahedron is a twelve-
sided regular geometric solid
composed of pentagons.


ICOSAHEDRON
Make a paper icosahedron. An
icosahedron is a twenty-sided regular
geometric solid composed of
equilateral triangles.


Match Each Regular
Polyhedron to Its Name
and Its Unfolded Form
Draw lines between
each Platonic solid
(regular polyhedron),
its name, and its
unfolded form.
Polyhedra: tetrahedron,
cube, octahedron,
dodecahedron,
icosahedron. Or go to
the answers.


Unfolding 3-D Shapes:
Cube and Tetrahedron
Nets
Draw an unfolded cube
and tetrahedron. Or go
to the answers.


Polyhedra: Fill-in-the-Blanks
Fill in the name, number of
faces, net, number of vertices,
number of edges, and shape of
the faces for five polyhedra
(tetrahedron, cube, octahedron,
dodecahedron, and
icosahedron). Or go to the
answers.

For instructions how to make a 3-D hexaflexagon (a figure made from six
tetrahedrons), click here.

For instructions how to make a hexagonal prism (not a Platonic solid, but an
interesting geometric solid), click here

JENIS-JENIS POP UP CARDS