In Euclidean geometry, a Platonic solid is a regular, convex polyhedron. The faces are congruent, regular polygons, with the same number of faces meeting at each vertex. There are exactly five solids which meet those criteria; each is named according to its number of faces.
| Tetrahedron (four faces) |
Cube or hexahedron (six faces) |
Octahedron (eight faces) |
Dodecahedron (twelve faces) |
Icosahedron (twenty faces) |
The aesthetic beauty and symmetry of the Platonic solids have made them a favorite subject of geometers for thousands of years. They are named for the ancient Greek philosopher Plato, who theorized that the classical elements were constructed from the regular solids.
Read more about Platonic Solid: History, Combinatorial Properties, Classification, In Nature and Technology
Famous quotes containing the words platonic and/or solid:
“I’ve arrived at the age where a platonic friendship can be sustained on the highest moral plane.”
—Charlie Chaplin (1889–1977)
“It is a sign of our times, conspicuous to the coarsest observer, that many intelligent and religious persons withdraw themselves from the common labors and competitions of the market and the caucus, and betake themselves to a certain solitary and critical way of living, from which no solid fruit has yet appeared to justify their separation.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)