PLATONIC SOLIDS

Audrey Johnson

Characteristics of Platonic Solids

They are regular polyhedra
A polyhedron is a three dimensional
figure composed of polygons
There are exactly five platonic solids
All the faces are the same regular
polygon
The same number of polygons meet at
each vertex

To Be a Platonic Solid
At least three faces must meet
the sum of the interior angles of the sides
meeting at each vertex must be less than
360 degrees
For example, the tetrahedron is made up of
equilateral triangles which consists of three 60
degree angles
3 equilateral triangles meet at each vertex so
the sum of the interior angles is 180 degrees
which is less than 360 degrees

More Examples:
Octahedron
made up of four equilateral triangles
4*60=240 < 360 degrees

Icosahedron
made up of five equilateral triangles
5*60=300 < 360 degrees
As a result there cannot be 6 equilateral triangles
since 6*60=360. If this was so the triangles would
form a single-planed figure and not a solid

 The cube:
Made up of three squares
3*90=270 < 360

As a result, if four squares met at a

vertex then the interior angles would
equal 360 and would form a plane
and not a solid

Unique Numbers

Tetrahedron
4 faces 6 edges 4 vertices
Cube
6 faces 12 edges 8 vertices
Octahedron
8 faces 12 edges 6 vertices
Dodecahedron 12 faces 30 edges 20
vertices

Icosahedron

20 faces 30 edges 12 vertices

Unique Relationship
Duality
The cube and octahedron are duals
The icosahedron and dodecahedron are
duals
The tetrahedron is a dual to itself

This means that one can be created

by connecting the midpoints of the
faces of the other

In Real Life
The five platonic solids are ideal
models of crystal patterns that occur
throughout the world of minerals in
numerous variations
To the Greeks, these solids
symbolized fire, earth, air, spirit, and
water