The Cuboctahedron

Emily Gi & Hannah Rehman

Mr. Acre

GAT 9C

29 February 2016
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The Cuboctahedron

As mathematician Paul Richard Halmos once uttered, “The only way to learn

mathematics is to do mathematics.” Completing projects, such as the cuboctahedron, allows

whoever tackles the mentioned project to apply the skills they already know into something that

utilizes those abilities in order to single-handedly learn something more from it. It lets their mind

work on old gears to create something that extends from what is already known, which is needed

in a lot of areas. Not only that, with puzzles alike to the cuboctahedron, it enhances the brain’s

ability to recognize problems and fix them quicker. In this, many formulas and different

equations along with the use of basic constructions were used in order for the lengths and sides

of the cuboctahedron to be found. Jobs, such as the job of an architect or even a mathematician,

works the brain or uses techniques like so every single day in their work environment.

Completing everything that is required in this project can carve a simpler path for many to strive

for their desired job.

Now, for the beginning of this project, the measure of one side of the overall cube was

given. Being assigned differently, the length for this essay soon became 19.2 units, with the units

free to determine. In the end, a one to one ratio was decided upon and the units used to measure

the entire project became centimeters. A cuboctahedron has a total of fourteen faces, eight

triangular ones and six square. It also has twenty-four edges and twelve vertices. Its volume can

be found in three different ways because of its unique structure. The intricate design of the

cuboctahedron assists in the understanding of various ways to calculate volume, along with

surface area, making it easier by applying skills that have already been installed into the brain.
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Figure 1. Overall Cube Face

Figure 1 shows one face of the overall cube that can contain the cuboctahedron.

Because a cuboctahedron is technically a cube with its corners cut off, Figure 1

showcases it perfectly. The triangles in each corner represent the space that had been taken away

from the large cube in order to form the top face of a cuboctahedron. With one edge of the cube

being 19.2 cm, as decided, the legs of the triangle in Figure 1 easily becomes half of that, which

is 9.6 cm. Because that triangle is a right triangle and both legs are of the same length, it is a 45°

- 45° - 90° triangle. Doing the math of multiplying √2 to one of the legs helps in finding the

missing hypotenuse. This ends with the hypotenuse being 9.6√2 cm, and with that, all edges of

the cuboctahedron becomes 9.6√2 cm as all square and triangle faces of the cuboctahedron share

edges.
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Figure 2. Measurements of One Triangular Face

In Figure 2, it reveals the side lengths, and the height, of one triangular face on the

cuboctahedron.

From Figure 1, each edge of the cuboctahedron face was revealed to be 9.6√2 cm.

Inserting that into Figure 2, the edges of the triangle is simply 9.6√2 cm. Now, to find the height

of one triangular face, split the equilateral triangle in half as done above. This creates the 30° -

60° - 90° triangle. Taking one side length and dividing it by two gives the bottom leg of the right

triangle; which is now 4.8√2 cm. Using the 30° - 60° - 90° method, multiply the bottom leg, or in

this case 4.8√2 cm, with √3, making it 4.8√6 cm. The height of one triangular face is 4.8√6 cm.
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Area (A) = ½ · base (b) · height (h) Formula for Area of a Triangle

A = ½ · (9.6√2 · 4.8√6) Substitution Property of Equality

A = ½ · (46.08√12) Multiplication Property of Equality

A = 23.04√12 cm² Multiplication Property of Equality

Figure 4. Area of a Triangular Face

Using the formula to finding the area of a triangle, substitute in the numbers for the base

and height of the triangle to end up with its area. The base of the face is 9.6√2 cm while the

height is 4.8√6 cm as found. Multiplying it out and simplifying as shown above, the area

becomes 23.04√12 cm².

Figure 3. Measurements of One Square Face

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Above, the height and side measures of one square face is shown, both being 9.6√2 cm.

From Figure 1, it showed how to find one edge of the cuboctahedron. No additional math was

needed as its height is the same as one of its edges because the face is a square.

To find the total surface area, the areas of the triangular and square faces must be added

together. Take the area of a triangular face and multiply it by how many triangular faces there are

while the area of the square face with how many square faces there are and then add up those

two numbers in order to obtain the total surface area.

A=s·s Formula for Area of a Square

A = 9.6√2 · 9.6√2 Substitution Property of Equality

A = 184.32 cm² Simplify

Figure 5. Area of a Square Face

Taking the side of the square, which is 9.6√2 cm, and plugging it into the formula of the

area of a square gives 184.32 cm² as one square face’s area. Figure 5 shows how to do so.

Total Surface Area (TSA) = ((A of

Formula for Total Surface Area
Triangle) · 8) + ((A of Square) · 6)

TSA = (23.04√12 · 8) + (184.32 · 6) Substitution Property of Equality

TSA = 184.32√12 + 1,105.92 cm² Multiplication Property of Equality

Figure 6. Total Surface Area of Cuboctahedron

In Figure 6, the steps used to find the total surface area are shown. The area of one

triangular face found from Figure 4 and the area of one square face found from Figure 5 must be

multiplied by the total amount of that type of face. In the case of the triangular faces, the area of

one face must be multiplied by eight as there are eight triangular faces. For the square faces, its
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area must be multiplied by six as there are six square faces in total. The areas then become

184.32√12 cm² and 1,105.92 cm² accordingly. The last step is adding those two measurements

together, producing the total surface area of the cuboctahedron. Because combining roots with

numbers that contain different roots or none at all is not possible, the total surface area stays as

184.32√12 + 1,105.92 cm².

Now as told in the introduction, the volume can be found differently. The first case is

with a large cube and cutting out the corners to form a cuboctahedron, the second case is the

combination of a rectangular prism with four rectangular pyramids on each long face, while the

third case is the combination of several tetrahedrons and square pyramids to form the end

cuboctahedron. With these three cases comes three separate methods to find the volume.

Figure 7. Case One Pyramid Measurements

With case one, to find the volume of the cuboctahedron, the overall cube and chopped off

corners are used. In Figure 7, it demonstrates the measurements of the net of a corner that would
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be cut off from the cube. Folded together, the corner is obviously a triangular pyramid. When the

pyramid is placed upon the cuboctahedron, the lateral faces become the triangles that were cut

from the face of the cube and the base is the triangular face itself. That is why the base of the

pyramid is an equilateral triangle and the lateral faces are isosceles triangles.

Now, one of the congruent lengths becomes 9.6 cm for one of the lateral faces, which

was found when dividing one edge of the larger cube, 19.2 cm, in half. Considering that the

triangles on the cube were 45° - 45° - 90° triangles, the lateral faces are the same and the length

of the hypotenuse would have to be found by multiplying the leg to √2, which was done from

Figure 1. In the end, the length of 9.6√2 cm was found and that makes as the edges for the

equilateral base too.

Volume (V) = ⅓ · (A of b) · (h of
Formula for Volume of a Pyramid
Pyramid)

V = ⅓ · 46.08 · 9.6 Substitution Property of Equality

V = ⅓ · 442.368 Multiplication Property of Equality

V = 147.456 cm³ Multiplication Property of Equality

Figure 8. Volume of Case One Pyramid

For the area of the pyramid’s base, instead of using the equilateral triangle, one of the

lateral faces was used instead. That makes the height of the pyramid 9.6 cm. Inserting it into the

area of a triangle formula, the area of the base becomes 46.08 cm². Using those numbers, with

the steps as shown in Figure 8, the volume of the pyramid ends up as 147.456 cm³.
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V = (A of b) · (h of Cube) Formula for Volume of a Cube

V = (19.2 · 19.2) · 19.2 Substitution Property of Equality

V = 368.64 · 19.2 Multiplication Property of Equality

V = 7,077.888 cm³ Multiplication Property of Equality

Figure 9. Volume of Overall Cube

The cube’s base’s area is merely two of its lengths multiplied together, which is why, in

Figure 9, for the area of the base, it shows two numbers being multiplied instead. Multiplying it

all out, the volume of the cube is 7.077.888 cm³.

V = (Cube Volume) - ((Pyramid

Formula for Volume of Cubo
Volume) · 8)

V = 7,077.888 - (147.456 · 8) Substitution Property of Equality

V = 7,077.888 - 1,179.648 Multiplication Property of Equality

V = 5,898.24 cm³ Subtraction Property of Equality

Figure 10. Volume of Case One Cuboctahedron

In Figure 10, the steps taken to find the cuboctahedron’s volume are shown. In case one,

the volume of the cube is needed, along with eight times the volume of the pyramid. Once these

volumes are found, the pyramid volume multiplied by eight must be subtracted from the cube’s

volume. This was the final step needed to find the cubo’s volume.

To begin, finding the volume of the cuboctahedron using case one can be easily messed

up. There are many different steps that have to be completed. First, the volume of the pyramid

corners must be found, which is shown in Figure 8. Once the formula is completed, 147.456 cm³
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cm³ is the final volume. Next, the volume of the cube must be found. As shown in Figure 9, the

cube’s volume is 7,077.888 cm³. Then, the volume of the pyramid must be multiplied by 8,

which comes out to 1,179.648 cm³. Following Figure 10, the pyramid volume that was just found

should be subtracted from the cube’s volume. After this is complete, the volume of the

cuboctahedron is 5,898.24 cm³.

Figure 11. Case Two Rectangular Prism Measurements

One measurement of the rectangular prism is 19.2 cm because that edge is the same

length as the cube overall. The other is 9.6√2 cm as that one is the same side as one of the

cuboctahedron square faces.

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V = (A of b) · (h of Prism) Formula for Volume of a Prism

V = (9.6√2 · 19.2) · 9.6√2 Substitution Property of Equality

V = 184.32√2 · 9.6√2 Multiplication Property of Equality

V = 3538.94 cm³ Multiplication Property of Equality

Figure 13. Volume of Case Two Rectangular Prism

In Figure 13, as shown above, the math used to find the volume of the rectangular prism

is shown. The measurements from Figure 11 were plugged into the volume formula.

Figure 12. Case Two Rectangular Pyramid Measurements

In Figure 12, the measurements for the rectangular pyramid are shown. The side

measures are 9.6√2 and 19.2. The height for the rectangular pyramid 4.8√2.
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V = ⅓ · (A of b) · (h of Pyramid) Formula for Pyramid Volume

V = ⅓ · 184.32√2 · 4.8√2 Substitution Property of Equality

V = ⅓ · 1750.27 Multiplication Property of Equality

V = 589.824 cm³ Multiplication Property of Equality

Figure 14, Volume of Case Two Rectangular Pyramid

Figure 14, above, shows the work needed to find the volume for the rectangular pyramid

in case two. The measurements from Figure 12 were placed into the volume formula in order to

find this answer.

V = (V of Prism) + ((V of Pyramid) · 4) Formula for Cuboctahedron Volume

V = 3538.94 + (583.424 · 4) Substitution Property of Equality

V = 3538.94 + 2359.3 Multiplication Property of Equality

V = 5898.24 cm³ Addition Property of Equality

Figure 15. Volume of Case Two Cuboctahedron

Above, in Figure 15, the volume for the cuboctahedron is shown. The volume was found

using case two’s method.

Finding the volume of the cuboctahedron using the method of case two proved to be

fairly simple. First, the measurements of the sides of the rectangular pyramid and prism must be

found, as seen in Figures 11 and 12. The next step is to find the volume of the rectangular prism.

This is done by plugging in the measurements into the volume formula, as seen in Figure 13. The

end result is 3538.94 cm³. Now, the volume of the regular rectangular pyramid must be found.

Going along with Figure 14, the measurements found in Figure 12 are placed into the formula for
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the volume of a pyramid. This produces an answer of 589.824 cm³. The final step is to multiply

the rectangular pyramid volume by four and add it to the volume of the rectangular prism. This

can be found in Figure 15. Once all this is complete, the volume of the cubo is revealed to be

5898.24 cm³.

Figure 16. Case Three Tetrahedron Measurements

Above, in Figure 16, the measurements for the tetrahedron are shown. Because the

tetrahedron faces are congruent to the cuboctahedron triangular face, the side measurements are

the same. One edge was found to be 9.6√2 cm, as to which the height branched off to become

3.2√12 cm.
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V = ⅓ · (A of b) · (h of Pyramid) Formula for Volume of Pyramid

V = ⅓ · 23.04√12 · 3.2√12 Substitution Property of Equality

V = ⅓ · 884.736 Multiplication Property of Equality

V = 294.912 cm³ Multiplication Property of Equality

Figure 18. Volume of Case Three Tetrahedron

Figure 8 showcases the volume of case three’s tetrahedron. Taking the area of the triangle

already found from Figure 2, plug that into the volume of a pyramid formula in Figure 8 along

with the height of the tetrahedron, which was 3.2√12 cm, as found from Figure 16. Multiplying it

all out and dividing by three ends up with 294.912 cm³ as the tetrahedron volume.

Figure 17. Case Three Pyramid Measurements

In Figure 17, the measurements of the pyramid were discovered. The height was found to

be 9.6 cm and the side measurement was 9.6√2 cm. As its base is the same as the square face of

the cuboctahedron, it was clear that all of case three’s pyramid edges were 9.6√2 cm. These
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measurements are useful to know as they will help in finding out the volume of the entire

cuboctahedron in case three.

V = ⅓ · (A of b) · (h of Pyramid) Formula for Volume of Pyramid

V = ⅓ · 184.32 · 9.6 Substitution Property of Equality

V = ⅓ · 1,769.472 Multiplication Property of Equality

V = 589.824 cm³ Multiplication Property of Equality

Figure 19. Volume of Case Three Pyramid

Now, up above reveals how to find case three’s second pyramid, or otherwise known as a

square pyramid. The area of the base of the pyramid is the same as the square face from Figure 3

as they are practically the same thing. Plugging that, and the height of 9.6 cm that was found in

Figure 17, multiply it out and divide until the volume ends up becoming 589.824 cm³.

V = ((V of tetrahedron) · 8) + ((V of

Formula for Cuboctahedron Volume
square pyramid) · 6)

V = (294.912 · 8) + (589.824 · 6) Substitution Property of Equality

V = 2,359.296 + 3,538.944 Multiplication Property of Equality

V = 5,898.24 cm³ Multiplication Property of Equality

Figure 20. Volume of Case Three Cuboctahedron

Case three’s method of finding volume shows to get the volume of both the tetrahedron

and the square pyramid. Now, because eight tetrahedrons and six square pyramids together

create the complete cuboctahedron once together, multiply the volume of the said shapes and

multiply by the mentioned number of how many times the shape is required to create the final
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structure. Once those are done, add the two end numbers, which ended as 5,898.24 cm³ in this

case, which is happily the same number as found from the other two cases.

Just like the other two cases, case three was just as simple. The only problem had been

that the amount of tetrahedrons and pyramids needed to form the cuboctahedron was unknown. It

was until it was figured out that the tetrahedrons are technically how many triangular faces there

are on the cuboctahedron and the pyramids are how many square faces there are. Once using the

newfound knowledge, the formula became easier to understand and simplify. Checking back on

all three, it is a relief that all three cases ended up with the same volume in the end.

Overall, the cuboctahedron was a long and tedious yet simple process. It was fairly easy

to understand, even though the way to creating it and completing it was a lengthy process.

Following formulas precisely was very important for this project to be successful. Also,

measurements needed to be close to perfect for the building of the cases. Many obstacles were

faced in both the math and the building of the cuboctahedron. Simple mathematical errors, like

multiplying or adding the wrong number, could mess up the entire answers. Another essential

part of the math process was the formulas. If a formula was not followed correctly, the answer

would not be correct. Challenges in the building process included measurements and lack of

paper. When measuring the paper, the ruler would move slightly. This caused some of the

measurements not to be exact. Another issue was the lack of paper. Since the given length was

scaled to a 1:1 ratio, some of the paper did not fit the entire length of a side. This issue required

compromises.

Even using three different methods, the overall volume always proved to be the same.

This was due to the fact that the same measurement given in the beginning of the project was

used throughout the entire project. Also, the three methods all produce a cuboctahedron. As long
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as the correct measurement and formulas were used, the volume of the cuboctahedron was the

same.

All in all, the cuboctahedron has been an insightful experience. This project has helped us

understand volume more. It used concepts we already knew and applied them in a more

challenging way, which enhances our abilities in finding out volume and surface area. This

project proved as helpful in expanding what we already know and teaching us something a little

bit different.