COLLAPSIBLE MODELS of the REGULAR OCTAHEDRON

Author(s): CHARLES W. TRIGG

Source: The Mathematics Teacher, Vol. 65, No. 6 (OCTOBER 1972), pp. 530-533
Published by: National Council of Teachers of Mathematics
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COLLAPSIBLE
MODELSof the REGULAR
OCTAHEDRON

By CHARLESW. TRIGG to form a polyhedron, is called a net

of the polyhedron.
Professor Emeritus
Los Angeles City College
Los Angeles, California Six Nets
There are three ways in which one
THE faces of a right regular prism con
edge of a base may be left uncut, and
sist of two regular n-gons (the bases)
two ways of choosing an edge of a lateral
connected by rectangles (the lateral
triangle to cut. Thus there are 32(2), or
faces). Thus there are two rectangles and
18, ways to develop the octahedral sur
one n-gon at each vertex. When the rec
= face, using this combination of cuts.
tangles are squares and 4, the prism When equivalent rotations and reflections
is a cube.
of the nets are identified, the six distinct
If one of the bases is fixed, the other
nets of figure 2 remain. Each net consists
rotated through 360?J2n about its center,
of a parallelogram composed of six tri
and each of its vertices connected to the
two closest vertices of the other base, an angles with another triangle attached to
each of its long sides. Net A is the one
antiprism is obtained. Its faces consist of
usually encountered (Coxeter 1961, pp.
two regular n-gons (the bases) connected
149-51; Cundy and Rollett 1952, p. 80;
by 2n isosceles triangles (the lateral
Lines 1965, p. 139). Net F clearly demon
faces). Thus there are three triangles and
strates a seldom-recognized fact?the sur
one n-gon at each vertex. When the lateral
= face of an octahedron can be covered
faces are equilateral triangles and 3,
the antiprism is a regular octahedron
without overlapping by two equilateral
triangles.
(Coxeter 1961, pp. 149-51).
Each of the six nets can be folded into
In figure 1, two orientations of the
an octahedron with five open edges. To
regular octahedron are shown, first as an
achieve stability of the model, its open
antiprism and then in the more usual view to be closed
edges need by tape, adhesive,
as a double pyramid.
or flaps. A convenient method that com
bines collapsibilitywith stability is to
augment the net with equilateral-triangle
flaps on one of the two segments at each
open edge. There are five open edges, so
the flaps can be attached to each net in
Fig. 1. Two aspects of octahedron
25 ways. Good results are obtained when
When the regular octahedron is con the flaps on consecutive open edges are
sidered as an antiprism and two edges of oppositely directed. This situation is
each base and one lateral edge (a total achieved when flaps are attached on al
of five edges) are slit, the surface can be ternate segments of the perimeter of the
developed, or flattened out, into an irreg net. This can be done in two ways. As
ular polygon that is a network of eight might be expected from the central sym
equilateral triangles, as in figure 2. If an metry of nets A} E, and F, their two
edge of the octahedron is e, the perimeter augmented nets are identical. Hence there
of the network is 10e. Such a plane net are nine distinct augmented nets derived
work of polygons, which can be folded from the antiprism which can be folded
along the common edges of the polygons into collapsible octahedrons.

530 Mathematics Teacher

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 A

E F

Fig. 2. Six nets of octahedron

Net Fprovides a good example. Aug for the thickness of the cardboard. Too
mented with five flaps, it appears as in heavy or brittle cardboard will crack at
figure 3. After folding down along the the edges on repeated disassembling and
common sides of the triangles, assembly assembling of the model.
into an octahedron proceeds easily as fol To produce a snugly fitted model, it is
lows: Place flap e under edge e, put flaps essential that the net be accurately drawn
a, dy b in that order under the correspond with a sharp pencil point and that the
ing edges, and finally tuck in flap c under perimeter be followed closely when the
edge c. The octahedron can then be net is cut out. Folding can be facilitated
lightly pressed into completed form with
all the flaps firmly in place.
Satisfactory models up to 2 inches on
an edge may be made from 8%-by-ll
inch sheets of stiff paper, and up to 6
inches on an edge from light cardboard
of filing-folder weight. Heavier card
board can be used, but the free angles of
the flaps may have to be made slightly
greater than 60? in order to compensate Fig. 3. Augmented net F

October 1972 531

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 Fig. 4.
by scoring the lines separating the tri
angles lightly with the metal end of the
compasses held flat so as to compress the
fibers of the cardboard but not to break
them. Then the folding can be completed
around the straight edge of a table, desk,
or drawing board.
Since the model is held together by
friction between the flaps and the faces
at the vertices, a dull surface is preferable
to a glossy finish on the cardboard. Re
duction of the altitude of one or more
flaps should correct any tendency to
separate that the model might have.
In like manner, collapsible octahedrons
can be constructed from the augmented
nets of A, E, and the two forms of B, C,
and D. If the last flap is relatively diffi
cult to tuck in, the model is less likely to
spring apart. The nets that form the most
satisfactory models, in decreasing order
of stability, are F, B, C, and D.
A Two-Net Model
Net F also leads to a more spectacular
construction. If the augmented net is cut
along the segment (fig. 3) and a flap
added at the cut to the portion on the
left, the two smaller augmented nets of
532 Mathematics Teacher
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Model formation
figure 4 are obtained. Each of these con
sists of an equilateral triangle in which
the midpoints of the sides have been con
nected, and equilateral-triangle flaps
have been added to the alternate half
sides of the larger triangle. The two aug
mented nets are mirror images.
It has been shown (Trigg 1955, 1951,
and 1954) that a rigid collapsiblemodel
of a regular tetrahedron can be made from
either of these augmented triangular nets.
To form a tetrahedron, it is necessary
only to fold the net down along each
common side and then to tuck each flap
under the adjacent unflapped half-side.
To form an octahedron from the two
triangular nets, close the edge at and
proceed as before with the augmented
net F. Or, proceeding otherwise, fold both
an augmented equilateral-triangular net
and itsmirror image down along the lines
separating the component triangles. Then
tuck the flaps of one net under the non
flapped half-sides of the other net and
push the two parts together. This can be
done quite easily by first folding each
net so that the dihedral angles formed by
the adjacent triangles are about 90?.
Then, cupping one net in each hand, the
interweaving process of flap-tucking may of paper or cardboard should be used for
be guided with the fingers. both tetrahedral nets.
Or, the cardboard could be slit with Every model thus produced has no open
a sharp knife along the dotted lines shown edges, uses no adhesive, is self-stabilizing,
in figure 4. Then the flaps could be left is sufficiently rigid to toss around, can be
outside and their ends tucked into the taken apart and reassembled at will, and
slits. It will be observed that the slits are can be flattened out for convenient stor
made at the 240? vertices across the 60? age or shipping.
angles adjacent to the flaps. (If either Other nets of the octahedron exist.
of the nets is used to make a model
tetrahedron, the slits are in the proper REFERENCES
position. All the flaps may be tucked
H. S. M. Introduction to Geometry.
under the faces, or one or more may be Coxeter,
New York: JohnWiley ? Sons, 1961.
left outside to cover the faces while the
Cundy, H. Martyn, and A. P. Rollett. Math
ends of the flaps are tucked into the slits.) ematical Models. London: Oxford University
Cardboard of different colors for the Press, 1952.

two parts of the octahedral model is very Lines, L. Solid Geometry. New York: Dover
Publications, 1965.
effective.When the flaps are tucked under
Trigg, Charles W. "A Collapsible Model of a
the faces, the two surface-covering tri Tetrahedron." The Mathematics Student

angles are clearly exhibited. When the Journal 2 (February 1955) :1.
cover faces with ends -. Tetrahedra." American Math
flaps their tucked "Folding
ematicalMonthly 58 (January 1951) :39-40.
into slits, the colors of the visible faces
-. "Geometry of Paper Folding. II. Tet
alternate around each vertex of the octa rahedral Models." School Science and Math
hedron. Preferably, the same thickness ematics 54 (December 1954) :683-89.

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