What is special about Platonic solids?
What is special about Platonic solids?
They are special because every face is a regular polygon of the same size and shape. Example: each face of the cube is a square. They are also convex (no “dents” or indentations in them). They are named after Plato, a famous Greek philosopher and mathematician.
What must a Platonic solid have?
To be a Platonic solid, the tested shape must: Be convex. Be three-dimensional (a polyhedron) Have congruent faces.
What is the purpose of Platonic solid?
The five Platonic Solids were thought to represent the five basic elements: earth, air, fire, water, and the universe. The cube is associated with the earth, and reconnecting energy to nature. The octahedron is associated with air, and cultivating acceptance and compassion.
Why is it called a Platonic solid?
Define Platonic Solids A platonic solid is a regular, convex polyhedron. They are named after the ancient Greek philosopher Plato. A platonic solid has equal and identical faces. The same number of faces meet at each vertex.
Who discovered the Platonic solid?
These solids were introduced by Plato in his work Timaeus (ca. 350 BCE), in which all then known forms of matter—earth, air, fire, water, and ether—are described as being composed of five elemental solids: the cube, the octahedron, the tetrahedron, the icosahedron, and the dodecahedron.
Why are there only 5 types of Platonic solids?
And that is the simplest reason. Just for fun, let us look at another (slightly more complicated) reason. In a nutshell: it is impossible to have more than 5 platonic solids, because any other possibility violates simple rules about the number of edges, corners and faces we can have together.
What are real life uses of Platonic solids?
Platonic solids are often used to make dice , because dice of these shapes can be made fair. 6-sided dice are very common, but the other numbers are commonly used in role-playing games. Such dice are commonly referred to as d n where n is the number of faces (d8, d20, etc.); see dice notation for more details.
What are the names of the five Platonic solids?
Written By: Platonic solid, any of the five geometric solids whose faces are all identical, regular polygons meeting at the same three-dimensional angles. Also known as the five regular polyhedra , they consist of the tetrahedron (or pyramid), cube, octahedron, dodecahedron, and icosahedron.
What are the 5 Platonic solids in math?
Tetrahedron has four triangular faces