A Tour of the Platonic Solids

By Deb Russell, About.com Guide

There are 5 Platonic solids. The 5 Platonic solids are essentially the basis for all other solid geometry. The 5 platonic solids are polyhedra with regular polygon faces and the faces and vertices are identical. They are often referred to as perfectly symmetrical polyhedra. Each platonic solid obeys the relationship: # of faces + # of vertices = # of edges + 2.(Euler) In order for a solid to be a platonic solid, the figure must use the same regular polygon for all its faces and have the same number of faces meet at each of its vertices. Originally the platonic solids and their regularities were discovered by the Pythagoreans and were initiallyy called the Pythagorean solids. The platonic solids were later named by the ancient Greek philosopher, Plato, who often wrote about them in greater detail in his book 'Timaeus'.

Previous

• A Tutorial on the Platonic Solids
• The Tetrahedron
• The Hexahedron is a Platonic Solid
• The Octahedron is a Platonic Solid
• The Dodecahedron is a Platonic Solid
• The Icosahedron is a Platonic Solid

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