Questions tagged [polyhedra]

For questions related to polyhedra and their properties.

A polyhedron is a solid in $3$ dimensions with flat polygonal faces, straight edges and vertices. Two faces must join at each edge, and at least three must join at each vertex.

Examples consist of cubes, pyramids, stellations, etc.

Polyhedra can be defined in one of two main ways. They can be defined as a bounded intersection of half-planes, or as a connected set of polygons. The former definition restricts us to convex shapes, which are better behaved, while the latter is more relaxed, permitting star faces and face configurations.

In a convex polyhedron with $F$ faces, $E$ edges and $V$ vertices, the formula $$F-E+V=2$$ is satisfied. This is known as Euler's polyhedron formula.

Another useful result is that in a convex polyhedron, the angles of each of the faces at each vertex add up to less than $2\pi$, and the sum of all defects equals $4\pi$. This is known as Descartes' Theorem.

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What is the largest volume of a polyhedron whose skeleton has total length 1? Is it the regular triangular prism?

Say that the perimeter of a polyhedron is the sum of its edge lengths. What is the maximum volume of a polyhedron with a unit perimeter? A reasonable first guess would be the regular tetrahedron of side length $1/6$, with volume…
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How many fair dice exist?

We know a coin is a fair die with a 50-50 probability for two alternatives. Similarly, all five Platonic solids are fair dice. That makes six solids that can be fair dice, but can there be more? One example could be a two tetrahedra pasted together…
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What is the Coxeter diagram for?

I understand that Coxeter diagrams are supposed to communicate something about the structure of symmetry groups of polyhedra, but I am baffled about what that something is, or why the Coxeter diagram is clearer, simpler, or more useful than a…
MJD
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Dividing a polyhedron into two similar copies of itself

The paper Dividing a polygon into two similar polygons provides that there are only three families of polygons that are irrep-2-tiles (can be subdivided into similar copies of the original). Right angled triangles $1:\sqrt{2}$ parallelograms The…
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Is it possible to have a spherical object with only hexagonal faces?

If so, what would be the most efficient algorithm for generating spheres with different number of hexagonal faces at whatever interval required to make them fit uniformly or how might you calculate how many hexagonal faces are required for each…
CoryG
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The Scutoid, a new shape

The scutoid (Nature, Gizmodo, New Scientist, eurekalert) is a newly defined shape found in epithelial cells. It's a 5-prism with a truncated vertex. The g6 format of the graph is KsP`?_HCoW?T . They are apparently a building block for living…
Ed Pegg
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Hexagons are best for tiling 2D space in terms of perimeter vs area. What's best for 3D space?

If you think of the bee-hive problem, you want to make 2D cells that divide the plane of honey into chunks of area while expending the least perimeter (since the perimeter of the cells is what takes up resources/effort). The solution ends up being…
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Why are there 12 pentagons and 20 hexagons on a soccer ball?

Edge-attaching many hexagons results in a plane. Edge-attaching pentagons yields a dodecahedron. Is there some insight into why the alternation of pentagons and hexagons yields an approximated sphere? Is this special, or are there an arbitrary…
Phrogz
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What are the known convex polyhedra with congruent faces?

A monohedral polyhedron is one whose faces are all congruent. Note that this is a weaker condition than being isohedral (face-transitive). We have a classification of all convex isohedral polyhedra, consisting of 30 classes of assorted finite…
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Cleverest construction of a dodecahedron / icosahedron?

One can show, as an elementary application of Euler's formula, that there are at most five regular convex polytopes in 3-space. The tetrahedron, cube, and octahedron all admit very intuitive constructions. The cube is a cube, the octahedron is its…
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Odd Number of Cats?

A few days ago, a peer jokingly posed a puzzle. In essence, the puzzle states that there are some cats, each cat is in a corner, and each cat sees 3 other cats. The puzzle then asks how many cats there are in total. The obvious solution is that…
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Largest $n$-vertex polyhedron that fits into a unit sphere

In two dimensions, it is not hard to see that the $n$-vertex polygon of maximum area that fits into a unit circle is the regular $n$-gon whose vertices lie on the circle: For any other vertex configuration, it is always possible to shift a point in…
user139000
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Does knowing the surface area of all faces uniquely determine a tetrahedron?

I was wondering if the four areas of a tetrahedron faces were sufficient information to uniquely determine its shape. For example, is it true to say that if the surface areas are equal then the solid must be a regular tetrahedron? If the answer is…
Amirh.Kp
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What property of certain regular polygons allows them to be faces of the Platonic Solids?

It appears to me that only Triangles, Squares, and Pentagons are able to "tessellate" (is that the proper word in this context?) to become regular 3D convex polytopes. What property of those regular polygons themselves allow them to faces of regular…
Justin L.
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Height of a tetrahedron

How do I calculate the height of a regular tetrahedron having side length $1$ ? Just to be completely clear, by height I mean if you placed the shape on a table, how high up would the highest point be from the table?
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