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org/jchemeduc Article

Platonic Solids and Their Programming: A Geometrical Approach

J. Abraham Morales-Vidales, S. Alejandro Sandoval Salazar, Jimena M. Jacobo-Fernández,
and Alfredo Tlahuice-Flores*
Cite This: J. Chem. Educ. 2020, 97, 1017−1025 Read Online

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sı Supporting Information

ABSTRACT: This work covers a three-week program designed to

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provide undergraduate students with a background in structural

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chemistry and materials science. Sessions are based on the

programming of regular polyhedra and their geometrical relationships
by using an object-oriented language (i.e., POV-Ray). Three lectures
introduce the basics of programming (syntax), Platonic solids, and the
geometrical study of metal clusters and carbon structures. Students
work with geometrical aspects of two-dimensional (2D) polygons and
generate computer-based algorithms. Next, students study dual three-
dimensional (3D) polyhedral shapes, where they adapt the written
code to generate Cartesian coordinates of the Platonic solids.
Materials to guide the students include an explanation of
pseudocodes, tutoring to accompany the programming sessions, reviews of generated codes, and session exercises and challenges.
All activities during each hands-on session aim to engage and maintain the initial expectations of the students. Students gain
capabilities and knowledge allowing them to code final tests: the C60 molecule; an icosahedral metal cluster; and a cuboctahedron.
KEYWORDS: First-Year Undergraduate/General, Physical Chemistry, Materials Science, Hands-On Learning/Manipulatives,
Computer-Based Learning, Testing/Assessment

■ INTRODUCTION
The contemporary study of chemistry is linked to understanding
the topology of molecules, periodic structures, and other
nanostructured materials. The description of the atomic
arrangements followed in molecules (bonding) is simplified by
means of regular shapes. For example, the methane molecule
(CH4) holds a C atom surrounded by four H atoms located at
vertices of a tetrahedron. In the case of ammonia (NH3), a lone
pair of electrons (not used in bonding) is oriented toward one
tetrahedron vertex. In the first case, the sustained angle among
any pair of bonds is 109.5°, but in the second case it is reduced to
107.8°. Other molecules whose atoms describe regular shapes
include the octahedron (hexafluoride, SF6) and the cube
(cubane, C8H8). In addition, periodic structures (i.e., minerals)
depict shapes that can be characterized as cubic (pyrite, sodium
chloride, gold, zincblende, perovskite), octahedral (fluorite),
and dodecahedral (holmium−magnesium−zinc quasicrystals).1
In this regard, Platonic solids are regular polyhedral shapes,
amply studied by mathematicians and crystallographers, which
are constituted by identical faces, edges, and angles. Their name
was coined in honor of Plato, who described them ∼360 years
BCE. Plato attributed them with special properties and
associated them with elemental substances, such as fire
(tetrahedron), water (icosahedron), air (octahedron), earth
(cube), and the universe (dodecahedron). He posited that a
further combination of the above-mentioned elements might
produce matter.2
© 2020 American Chemical Society and
Division of Chemical Education, Inc.
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Allotropic forms of chemical elements might have different
properties attributable to their atomic arrangement. For
example, carbon features distinct bonding in structures, such
as graphite, diamond, nanotubes, and fullerenes, with the known
different chemical behavior and electronic, structural, and
mechanical properties.
The polyhedral shapes are used to describe orbitals
orientations, symmetries, and so on; for example, in diamond,
C atoms hold sp3 hybridized orbitals that are orientated toward
the vertices of a tetrahedron. Moreover, the diamond structure
can be considered as comprised by a cubic arrangement of
assembled tetrahedral blocks (see Figure 1).
Since 1985, various new carbon allotropes emerged after the
discovery of fullerenes,3 and a new 3D chemistry started to
develop rapidly. In fullerenes, the use of geometrical forms and
symmetries is a key concept in the process to organize and
categorize them. Fullerene structures can follow certain
symmetry operations (rotation axes, symmetry points or planes,
etc.), and their stability can be related to the lack of pentagons
sharing edges, thus avoiding geometrical strains.4 Fullerenes
Received: August 11, 2019
Revised: February 3, 2020
Published: February 19, 2020
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Journal of Chemical Education
Figure 1. Unit cell of diamond can be seen as comprised by tetrahedral
shapes. One C atom is located in the center of each tetrahedron.
display polyhedral shapes in accordance with the five Platonic
solids; for example, C20 is a dodecahedral molecule.
Note that we can truncate the edges of Platonic solids and
obtain related Archimedean solids. For example, the division in
two parts of the cube’s edges can produce the cuboctahedron.
Another example is when the edges of few regular polyhedra
(tetrahedron, icosahedron, and octahedron) are divided in three
equal parts, resulting in Archimedean solids, including the
truncated word in their names. Thus, the C60 molecule can be
obtained from the truncation or division of the icosahedron
edges in three equal parts.
In nature, the icosahedron shape is ubiquitousit features 12
vertices, 30 edges, and 20 faces, and it holds the higher symmetry
found in carbon clusters.3 It is found in viruses and their capsids
(protein shell), whose dimensions are of the order of 5 nm.
Another example is the satellite tobacco necrosis virus, in which
an icosahedral shell is formed by 60 identical protein subunits
enclosing a single RNA molecule.5 The description of metal
clusters is also given in terms of Platonic solids,6−10 and the
dodecahedral shape is found in gold nanocrystals.11 Even in
thiolated Au25 gold clusters, the inner core is comprised by one
Au13 icosahedron and 12 external Au atoms are attached to 18 S
atoms.12 Worthy of note is the finding that thiolated gold
clusters can be explained in terms of assembled polyhedral
blocks defined as tetrahedral or octahedral ones.13 All these
mentioned materials are of chemical relevance, which justifies
learning the geometrical aspects of Platonic solids.
Regarding the teaching and learning of chemistry and
symmetry, a paper recently published in this Journal uses plastic
material to build models of polyhedral shapes. Specifically,
interlocking disks are assembled to form Platonic and
Archimedean solids with chemical relevance.14 In contrast, our
approach implies the intensive use of computers and the
development of programming capabilities. The main justifica-
tion for our approach is the visual insight gained and
understanding of spatial depth regarding structure. Further-
more, the variety of studied structures is ample and is not limited
by the number of plastic pieces.
■ METHODOLOGY
It is important to mention that this program has been
implemented in a physical science school and attended by
second-year students of chemistry and physics, mainly. More-
over, in our case, the supervisor has expertise in programming
languages.
The Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León has a three-week
scientific session during which undergraduate students spend
their time in a laboratory under a supervising tutor to participate
in the faculty member’s investigations. This effort is designed to
engage students in a specific science field and to promote their
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early abilities in research investigations. In our group, students
are involved in studying the physics and chemistry of materials.
The internship is facilitated by the fact that the students
attending have completed at least three key courses: (i) an
introductory two-year undergraduate course in nanotechnology;
(ii) a programming course; and (iii) a materials science course.
In addition, our program teaches students concepts such as
molecular topology, which acts as a precursor for more-
advanced courses, such as crystallography, group theory, and
computational chemistry.
This three-week laboratory-like program is based on the
following methodology:
• Using school grades, both second-year and advanced
undergraduate students are selected to spend three weeks
under the supervision of a researcher.
• A research subject of interest to students (and convenient
for the researchers) is chosen.
• During the internship, supervisors receive students in
their laboratories and provide them with related material
and software access and lecture students about its use in
their research.
• Evaluation is based on the students’ final project,
consisting of a talk and a written report, including the
program code and a clear explanation of the algorithm(s)
used.
The implemented methodology helps students improve their
spatial reasoning and depth: students’ creativity and capabilities
are focused on solving problems related to polyhedral shapes
and determining the relationships of polyhedral shapes.
■
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
By the end of this program, undergraduate students will be able
to explain concepts such as duality and truncation of Platonic
solids and discuss their geometrical relationshipsthey will be
able to explain complicated metal and carbon clusters, in terms
of basic building blocks. Students will model molecules and
periodic structures based on an object-orientated language and
propose new models of chemical structures with relevance to
biology and materials science. These learning objectives and the
capabilities obtained by students will allow them to get involved
in future scientific investigations.
Specifically, in the first three sessions, students are introduced
to the ray-tracing concept by lectures with slides (see the
Supporting Information), combined with hands-on activities
exploring regular polyhedra. The following topics are covered
during this three-week program and in this publication:
(1) Introduction to an object-oriented languagePOV-Ray
syntax, primitive shape definitions, input file types, loops,
conditionals, and arrays
(2) Type of files containing Cartesian coordinates to locate
polyhedra vertices on a 3D space
(3) Geometrical relationships of Platonic solids and related
programming
(4) Duality property among pairs of polyhedral shapes as a
tool to generate related polyhedra
(5) Division of either edges (truncation) or faces of
polyhedral shapes to generate fullerenes and metal
clusters
(6) The final project description involves the study of an
Archimedean solid (e.g., a cuboctahedron)
With respect to lectures, they contain an introduction, a
practice section (programming), and the proposal of a new
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challenge for the next session. During each session, the students
are provided with an explanation of the algorithm used to solve
each challenge, which is complemented with modifications
proposed by students. The instructor provides help and review
of the pseudocode written. At the end of each session, the final
code is tested, the ray-traced image and Cartesian coordinates
are obtained, and the instructor explains the challenge of the
next session.
■
CONCEPTUAL ORIENTATION
The Use of an Object-Oriented Programming Language
POV-Ray,15 which is an object-oriented programming language,
can be used as a ray-tracer or to calculate 3D models. A scene in
POV-Ray requires a scenario, where primitive shapes such as
spheres, cylinders, boxes, cones, and torus, are located. More-
complex geometrical shapes can be obtained by means of
constructive solid geometry (CSG) operations such as union,
intersection, difference, and inverse. The scenario is completed
by placing a light source and a camera that is able to see and
show the distribution of objects.
POV-Ray can be used to make 3D models of molecules and
periodic structures; for example, a diatomic molecule can be
defined by two spheres (atoms) and one cylinder (bond). In
POV-Ray language, it is easy to implement operations of vectors
and the use of arrays (set of elements).
The syntax of POV-Ray language is easy to learnbasically,
the sphere and cylinder primitive shapes can be used to obtain a
ball-and-stick representation of any polyhedral. In the following
paragraphs are provided the definition of sphere and cylinder in
POV-Ray, as can be found in the documentation.16 The sphere
is defined by its location, given as a vector ⟨x,y,z⟩, its radius value
(r), and its texture. Moreover, the cylinder syntax request of its
endings given as ⟨x1,y1,z1⟩ and ⟨x2,y2,z2⟩ and a value of its
radius (r) (Box 1).
The Supporting Information (Word file, Annex 1, and the
PDFs of the PowerPoint slides) provides some basics about the
language; readers are encouraged to read all the freely available
resources in the POV-Ray Web site.15
Duality and Platonic Solids
Duality is a principle, followed by a pair of related polyhedral
shapes, where each vertex of one of the two related structures has
a one-to-one correspondence with the centers of the other
structure (ref 2, pp 52 and 56).8 For example, Table 1 shows that
the cube is the dual of the octahedron, and its number of faces
and vertices (six and eight) is reversed in the octahedron (eight
faces and six vertices).
Table 1. Comparison of Two Dual Polyhedral Shapes
Dual Pair Vertices Faces
cube-octahedron 8 6 6 8
icosahedron-dodecahedron 12 20 20 12
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The golden proportion ( dτ ) is widely used in the study of
symmetry properties of polygons and polyhedra. It is usually
expressed as
i 1 + 5 zy
τ = djjjj zz
z
k {
2 (1)
where τ represents the length of edge of one polyhedron and d is
the edge of the dual polyhedron.
■ RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
The Hexahedron or Cube
To facilitate the study of Platonic solids, the discussion centers
on finding relationships among polyhedral shapes and the cube.
Below we describe an algorithm to make a cube and present the
corresponding POV-Ray code.
The cube is constituted by 6 regular square faces, 12 edges,
and 8 vertices (Figure 2a). If the origin of the Cartesian
coordinates system coincides with the center of the cube, then
each face is perpendicular to the positive and negative part of x-,
y-, and z-axes, and each point of intersection can be defined as
half of the length of the cube edge (defined as a). Therefore, the
eight vertices can be defined by the points (±a/2, ±a/2, ±a/2).
Table S1 in the Supporting Information includes the Cartesian
coordinates of one centered cube.
The first example of ray-tracing is the generation of a cube
model. Think about the vertices of the cube as being defined by
spheres and cylinders linking them, forming its edges. The
following code is written in POV-Ray language (Box 2).
The above approach of a cube model is based on the definition
of vertices positions and the knowledge of linked vertices
forming each edge.
The second approach requires programming code. The
algorithm includes the declaration of all eight positions of one
cube by using an array: calculation of the distances among each
pair of vertices uses a POV-Ray function (VDist). The selection
of proper bond lengths uses conditions. (See Box 3.)
The code in Box 3 has nested cycles; each cycle is defined by
the keywords #while and #end. The intrinsic function included
in POV-Ray to calculate the distance between points is
VDist(vector1, vector2). All lines containing the keyword
#declare must end with a semicolon.
Making an Octahedron from a Cube
It is important to mention that all the Platonic solids are related
to the cube, in such manner that they can be inscribed on it. The
tetrahedron, for example, can be defined by selecting four of the
eight vertices of the cube (Figure 2a) in a way that the edges of
the tetrahedron are located along the diagonal of parallel faces
(Figure 2b). An octahedron can be obtained by locating its six
vertices on the six faces of one cube centered in the origin of an
orthogonal system (duality property in Figure 2c). The bonding
among those vertices defines an octahedron. Cartesian
coordinates or xyz positions of octahedron vertices can be
simplified by assuming that the cube is centered and aligned with
respect to the orthogonal axes. The center of each cube face will
be located along the three axes (positive and negative signs);
therefore, each of the coordinates of the octahedron will contain
two zeros. The following Cartesian coordinates correspond with
the octahedron of edge a: (±a/2, 0, 0), (0, ±a/2, 0), and
(0, 0, ±a/2). (See Table S2 in the Supporting Information for
octahedron Cartesian coordinates.)
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Figure 2. Cube and its relationship with tetrahedron and octahedron polyhedral shapes: (a) a cube is depicted as being centered, using the Cartesian
system; (b) the tetrahedron has four vertices, and its edges are located at the diagonal of parallel cube faces; and (c) the octahedron is the dual
polyhedron of the cube, which means that its vertices are located on the center of each cube face. All polyhedral shapes are given in a ball-and-stick
representation.
The duality relationship between the cube and the octahedron
ensures that an octahedron can be obtained by locating vertices
in the center of each of the cube’s faces, and in a reverse
direction, the cube can be defined by locating vertices in the
center of each of the octahedron’s faces.
To obtain an octahedron from a cube, it is necessary to locate
the center of each square face as follows:
(i) Determine a pair of edges sharing one vertex, based on the
calculation of the distance between its vertices;
(ii) Calculate the formed angle, selecting orthonormal edges;
(iii) Locate the center of one square face by using the following
÷÷÷÷÷◊ ÷÷÷÷◊ ÷÷÷÷◊ ÷÷÷÷◊
formula:
÷÷÷÷◊
(P 2 − P1) (P 3 − P1)
center = P1 + +
÷÷÷÷÷◊ ÷÷÷÷◊ ÷÷÷÷◊ ÷÷÷÷◊
2 2 (2)
where the P 2 − P1 and P 3 − P1 directions indicate two
orthonormal vectors with magnitude equal to the edge of
the square face.
Determination of the Cartesian coordinates of regular
octahedron is simplified by using a centered cube, whose two
first vertices (P0 and P1) are located along the diagonal of the
cube. However, when the cube is out of the origin of the
coordinates system, how can the location of vertices in the
center of the square faces be automatized? In this case, the POV-
Ray package can save the day, because of its inherent use of
arrays and vector operations.
The code in Box 4 shows how to make an octahedron from a
cube using an approach that locates points in the central part of
the cube’s faces.
Making an Icosahedron from a Cube
An icosahedron is formed by 20 triangular faces and 12 vertices.
Given the fact that the cube has 6 faces, by locating a pair of
vertices on each cube’s face, the icosahedron might be
obtained.17 Again, to simplify the procedure, we suppose that
the cube is centered and aligned along a set of orthogonal axes.
To locate the icosahedron vertices on a cube, it is important to
consider the following:
• Two pair of vertices that are separated by a distance d and
located on adjacent faces of the cube (P1 and P2 in Figure
3). A cube with edge a, and holding one face
perpendicular to the x-axis, might have two positions,
defined as P3(a/2, 0, −d/2) and P4(a/2, 0, d/2), while its
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Figure 3. (a) The cube and two pairs of icosahedron vertices located on
adjacent faces. The same distance among P1 and P2 positions is found
among P3 and P4 positions. P1, P2, and P3 constitute an equilateral
triangle. (b) Icosahedron of edge d, with vertices located on the cube
faces. The red spheres represent the vertices of the icosahedron and
blue spheres define a centered cube.
face perpendicular to the z-axis might have two positions
P1(0, d/2, −a/2) and P2(0, −d/2, −a/2).
• The distance between P1 and P2 must be the same as the
distance between P1 and P3 to have equilateral triangular
faces of the icosahedron.
• The relationship among the edge of the cube and the
icosahedron is given as a quadratic equation, and by
solving it, the “golden ratio” is obtained (in this case, a/d).
See Annex 2 (Word file handout) in the Supporting
Information for a complete deduction of this relationship.
The 12 positions of icosahedron vertices with an edge equal to
d and inscribed on a cube of edge a are given as (0, ±a/2, ±d/2),
(±a/2, ±d/2, 0), (±d/2, 0, ±a/2). In the Supporting
Information (Word file handout), the Cartesian coordinates of
the icosahedron are given in Tables S3 and S4. Note that a/2 or
−a/2 coordinates indicate that icosahedron vertices are located
at perpendicular planes to x = y = z = a/2 and at x = y = z = −a/2
axes, respectively. The zero coordinate indicates no displace-
ment along one axis, meaning that icosahedron vertices will be
located at a distance d/2 from the face center of the cube.
By using the relationship of duality among polyhedral shapes,
other Platonic solids can be created, as discussed in the following
section.
Making a Dodecahedron from an Icosahedron
To build a dodecahedron from an icosahedron, we exploit their
duality relationship.18,19 This implies locating positions on the
center of each of the 20 triangular faces of the icosahedron.
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Figure 4 depicts the procedure to locate the center of an

equilateral triangle. The center of the triangle is obtained by the Figure 4. Determination of the center of an equilateral triangle with
vector addition of one-third of the vectors parallel to a pair of vertices P1, P2, and P3. Represented vectors in red are parallel to a pair
of edges, forming a 60° angle. The magnitude of vectors corresponds
edges, forming a 60° angle. The center of a triangular face is

÷÷÷÷÷◊ ÷÷÷÷◊ ÷÷÷÷◊ ÷÷÷÷◊

with one-third of the triangle edges. To locate the center of the triangle,
calculated by using the following formula:
÷÷÷÷◊
it is necessary to add the given vectors.
(P 2 − P1) (P 3 − P1)
center = P1 + +
3 3 (3)
This formula (eq 3) was programmed and applied to each Making an Icosahedron from a Dodecahedron
triangular face of the icosahedron with the Cartesian coordinates An icosahedron can be built from its dual polyhedral shape; to
previously obtained (see Figure 5, as well as Table S5 in the do so requires locating its vertices on the center of each
Supporting Information). Readers are encouraged to review the pentagonal face. As done previously, we start by working on a 2D
pseudocode provided in the Supporting Information. The polygon. In a regular pentagon, its center can be found by adding
pseudocode can also be extended to determine the center of the one vector parallel to its edge and one vector perpendicular to it.
faces of an octahedron. The magnitude of the perpendicular vector equals the
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Figure 5. Icosahedron holding balls in the center of its triangular faces.
Green balls represent the dodecahedron vertices.
pentagon’s apothem. In a regular pentagon, the length of the
apothem is 0.668 times its edge (see ref 2, p 66).
Figure 6 represents one of the dodecahedron’s faces. To find
the midpoint of the edge defined by P1 and P2, the next formula
÷÷÷÷÷◊ ÷÷÷÷◊
÷÷÷÷◊
can be applied.
P 2 − P1
C = P1 +
2 (4)
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Figure 6. Vector addition used to locate the center of a pentagon. Point
C represents the midpoint among points P1 and P2. The second vector
is perpendicular to the P1P2 vector and its magnitude corresponds to
the apothem.
From midpoint C, a vector perpendicular to the P1 P2 edge with
a magnitude equal to the apothem might locate the center of the
pentagon. However, when this 2D algorithm is applied to the 3D
nature of the dodecahedron, the perpendicular vector must be
projected in the same plane of the pentagonal face (Figure 7).
The algorithm used to find the center of a pentagonal face is as
follows:
Figure 7. Dodecahedron with a vertex in the center of each face. Green
balls represent the vertices of an icosahedron.
• Calculate the pair of positions that are linked by
considering a as the length of the edge
• Calculate the angle between a pair of edges and only those
forming an angle of 108° are part of the pentagonal face
• Use the midpoint of one edge and a vector perpendicular
to it to locate the center of the pentagonal faces
To express this perpendicular vector in the case of a 3D
model, some predetermined POV-Ray formulas16 can be used:
(i) VPerp_To_Vector(“vector”); (ii) VProjected_Plane (“vec-
tor1”, “vector2”); and (iii) VPerp_To_Plane(“vector1”, “vec-
tor2”). The Supporting Information provides the related
pseudocode, and Table S6 in the Supporting Information
gives the Cartesian coordinates.
Truncation of Platonic Solids
To extend our study of regular polyhedra, it is necessary to use
the truncation of Platonic solid edges. This means reducing the
edge of a figure by locating a vertex or several vertices on its
edges. Some of the 13 Archimedean solids can be obtain through
the truncation of regular polyhedra. For example, the truncated
icosahedron (analyzed later in this manuscript as a C60 fullerene)
can be obtained by dividing the edges of an icosahedron in three
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equal parts; this means placing two vertices on the edge. The such as icosahedral nanoparticles. This direction is explored
cuboctahedron is obtained by dividing the edge of a cube or below.
octahedron in two; this means locating a vertex in the middle The next challenge was to divide the triangular faces of an
point of each edge. A similar procedure can be applied to the icosahedron n times (see Figure 9). First, the vectors located
dodecahedron or icosahedron to make an icosidodecahedron.
Making a C60 Fullerene from Dividing the Edges of an
Icosahedron
The C60 structure (12 pentagons, 20 hexagons, and 90 edges), as
seen previously, can be obtained from the truncation of the
edges of the icosahedron.
Fullerenes, which were discovered in 1985, are the third stable
structure of carbon, after diamond and graphite.3 Harold Kroto
and Richard Smalley were awarded a Nobel prize in the field of
chemistry for the discovery of fullerenes.
The first challenge in this program was to create the
icosahedron, and we must recall that it has 30 edges, in such
manner that we must locate two vertices (A and B) equally
spaced at each edge (see Figure 8). The algorithm includes the Figure 9. Representation of an icosahedron face that is divided into 25
equal triangular parts. A position is obtained along the edge defined by
P1 and P2 vertices. Internal positions in the triangular face is a
combination of fraction of vectors along the P1P2 and P1P3 directions.
It can be seen as an icosahedral gold cluster.

along each edge of the icosahedron were calculated and saved

Figure 8. Modeling a C60 fullerene: (a) icosahedron with two positions
into an array. Then, vectors forming angles of 60° were selected.
The new positions located on each triangular face can be defined
by a combination of the mentioned vectors. Implementation of
two nested cycles in the programming code was necessary.
Suppose that we want to divide the edges into five equal parts;
then, we would end up dividing the face into 25 equal triangular

÷÷÷÷÷◊ ÷÷÷÷◊ ÷÷÷÷◊ ÷÷÷÷◊ y

÷÷÷÷◊ ij P 2 − P1 yzz ij P
parts. The process is explained in the following formula:
3 − P1 zz
A and B on each edge (adding up to 30 edges), and (b) the C60 is

A⃗ = P1 + jjjj zzk + jjj zzl

obtained by removing icosahedron Cartesian coordinates. Twenty

z j z
k { k {
hexagonal faces of C60, corresponding to 20 triangular faces of the
icosahedron. Pentagonal faces correspond with the 12 vertices of the 5 5 (7)

÷÷÷÷÷◊ ÷÷÷÷◊ ÷÷÷÷◊ ÷÷÷÷◊

icosahedron.
where A indicates the new positions obtained by vector addition
of P 2 − P1 and P 3 − P1 vectors located along edges, with k and
calculation of the distance among all 12 of the original vertices of l being scalar or indexes (see eq 7). Readers are encouraged to
the icosahedron, and only those located at a distance of three review Table S8 and the pseudocode provided in the Supporting
times the C−C distance in graphite (1.42 Å) are considered as Information.
forming an edge. To divide each edge of the icosahedron into Making a Cuboctahedron from the Truncation of a Cube
÷÷÷÷÷◊ ÷÷÷÷◊
÷÷÷÷◊
three equal parts, we use the following formulas:
The cuboctahedron is considered to be an Archimedean solid; it
P 2 − P1 has six square faces and eight triangular faces (Figure 10). These
A = P1 +

÷÷÷÷÷
◊ ÷÷÷÷
◊
3 (5) numbers coincide with the number of faces (6) and vertices (8)

÷÷÷÷◊ ij P 2 − P1 yz
B = P1 + 2jjjj zz
of the cube. To make a cuboctahedron, it is necessary to locate

zz
the middle point of the 12 edges of the cube. By linking the

k 3 { (6)
In this case, B and A represent the positional vectors of two
vertices forming an edge. P1 and P2 correspond to a pair of
linked positions forming an edge. These formulas were
implemented in a POV-Ray code in order to obtain the 60
Cartesian coordinates. The implementation of this algorithm
and Table S7, with Cartesian coordinates of the C60, are
provided in the Supporting Information.
Making a Hollow Cluster from Dividing the Faces of an
Icosahedron
In the generation of the Cartesian coordinates of the C60 Figure 10. Representation of a cuboctahedron obtained by finding the
molecule, the truncation of the edges of the icosahedron was middle point of the cube edges: (a) the procedure can be seen as the
used; in the same manner, successive division of the faces of truncation of the cube’s edges, and (b) the cuboctahedron has regular
icosahedron might produce new and fascinating nanostructures, triangular and square faces.

1023 https://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acs.jchemed.9b00751
J. Chem. Educ. 2020, 97, 1017−1025
Journal of Chemical Education
middle point located on the cube’s edges, the cuboctahedron is
formed. During the generation of the edges of the cube, we
determine the neighboring vertexes in the cube, in such a
manner that we can reuse the proposed algorithm. The
calculated Cartesian coordinates are included in the Table S9,
and the POV-Ray code is given in Box 5.
■ icosahedron (PDF)
CONCLUSIONS
During the three-week laboratory-like program described here,
we performed a geometrical and programming study of Platonic
solids and extended it to the study of Archimedean solids. The
geometrical relationships among Platonic solids were estab-
lished and then exploited to generate the Cartesian coordinates
of related regular shapes. For example, the icosahedron was
obtained from the cube by locating two positions on each of its
six faces. Moreover, to generate other regular shapes, duality and
truncation were used. The duality property of Platonic solids was
used to generate the dodecahedron from the icosahedron, while
the octahedron was obtained from the cube. The truncation of
the icosahedron generated the C60 molecule; one icosahedral
cluster was obtained by dividing either the edges or faces of the
icosahedron. In addition, the truncation of the cube resulted in
the cuboctahedron, which is a well-known Archimedean solid.
1024
pubs.acs.org/jchemeduc Article
In closing, we acknowledge that the teaching and learning of
chemistry and the study of the structure of molecules and
periodic systems require the use of 3D models to help students
create accurate mental images. This requires creativity on the
part of the teacher, and the engagement of the students is
important. The literature provides various approaches to
understand difficult subjects, such as biochemistry, for which
3D printing is helpful.20 Interestingly, the use of 3D printers
represents pedagogical tools for tactile learning,21 for example,
the use of 3D models can provide help during the visualization of
symmetry elements.22 The unconventional approaches are
superior to the use of plastic kits whose costs can limit the size
of the structures being represented and studied.23 All of the
studies mentioned concur on the necessity of the manipulation
of 3D objects to help students gain spatial−visual literacy. In
addition, the learning process is aided by tactile senses.
On the other hand, our approach allows students to gain
desirable visual literacy while using a freely available, object-
orientated language that is not limited in the number of atoms
constituting the structure. Notably, a more complete version of
our approach is part of the curriculum of graduate students, and
it complements their materials and solid-state chemistry courses.
In this three-week, hands-on unit, the programming skills of
the students were of great importance in order to complete the
proposed challenges. All of the activities that were performed
helped students gain visual literacy confidence in such a manner
that they contributed actively during the writing of this
publication.
■
*
ASSOCIATED CONTENT
sı Supporting Information
The Supporting Information is available at https://pubs.ac-
s.org/doi/10.1021/acs.jchemed.9b00751.
Syntax of the programming language and primitives
definition in POV-Ray; (PDF)
Session 1 (Provericyt, Ray-Tracing), introduction to
POV-Ray and initial codes; Session 2 (Provericyt, Ray-
Tracing), POV-Ray, working with files and first challenge;
and Session 3 (Provericyt, Ray-Tracing) (PDF)
Cartesian coordinates of Platonic solids and response to
the first challenge (PDF)
Syntax of the programming language and primitives
definition in POV-Ray, and procedure used to determine
the relationship among edges of the cube and the
■
AUTHOR INFORMATION
Corresponding Author
Alfredo Tlahuice-Flores − Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo
́
León, CICFIM-Facultad de Ciencias Fisico-Matemá
ticas, San
Nicolás de los Garza, NL 66455, México; orcid.org/0000-
0001-8542-9241; Email: tlahuicef@gmail.com
Authors
J. Abraham Morales-Vidales − Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo
́
León, CICFIM-Facultad de Ciencias Fisico-Matemáticas, San
Nicolás de los Garza, NL 66455, México
S. Alejandro Sandoval Salazar − Universidad Autónoma de
́
Nuevo León, CICFIM-Facultad de Ciencias Fisico-Matemá ticas,
San Nicolás de los Garza, NL 66455, México
https://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acs.jchemed.9b00751
J. Chem. Educ. 2020, 97, 1017−1025
Journal of Chemical Education pubs.acs.org/jchemeduc Article

Jimena M. Jacobo-Fernández − Universidad Autónoma de
́
Nuevo León, CICFIM-Facultad de Ciencias Fisico-Matemá
ticas,
San Nicolás de los Garza, NL 66455, México
Complete contact information is available at:
https://pubs.acs.org/10.1021/acs.jchemed.9b00751
Notes
The authors declare no competing financial interest.
(15) POV-Ray Home Page. Available via the Internet at: http://www.
povray.org (accessed Feb. 1, 2020).
(16) POV-Ray 3.6 Documentation Online View. Available via the
Internet at: https://www.povray.org/documentation/view/3.6.1/459/
(accessed Feb. 1, 2020).
(17) Lloyd, D. R. CubicIcosahedra? A Problem in Assigning
Symmetry. J. Chem. Educ. 2010, 87 (8), 823−826.
(18) King, R. B. The Chemical and Geometrical Genesis of
Quasicrystals: Relationship of Icosahedral Aluminum Alloy Quasicrys-
tal Structures to Icosahedral Structures in Elemental Boron. Inorg.

■
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
We are thankful to Provericyt 2019 program of Universidad
Autó n oma de Nuevo Leó n in Méx ico for provoking
collaboration among students and professors. We gratefully
acknowledge the many students that have attended the previous
Provericyt editions, whose encouragement and compromise
have contributed to improve the hands-on included in this
publication.
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Smith College: Northampton, MA, USA, 2013; 68 pp.
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■
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