Platonic solid

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In geometry, a convex polyhedron bounded by faces which are all the same-sized regular polygon is known as a Platonic solid. There are only five Platonic solids, shown in the table below:

number
of
faces
name type of face volume surface
area
properties image
4 regular tetrahedron
(or regular triangular pyramid)
equilateral triangle 4 vertices, 6 edges, self-dual Tetrahedron.png
6 cube square 8 vertices, 12 edges, dual to octahedron Cube.png
8 regular octahedron equilateral triangle 6 vertices, 12 edges, dual to cube Octahedron.png
12 regular dodecahedron regular pentagon 20 vertices, 30 edges, dual to icosahedron Dodecahedron.png
20 regular icosahedron equilateral triangle 12 vertices, 30 edges, dual to dodecahedron Icosahedron.png

Proving that there are only 5 Platonic solids is rather easy: From the definition, the faces must be regular polygons which can meet three or more at a point with some excess angle, to create a solid angle. Any regular polygon with 7 or more sides cannot meet three or more to a point without overlapping. The regular hexagon can meet three at a point, but with no excess, thus no solid angle is formed. That leaves the regular pentagon, the square, and the equilateral triangle as the only possible faces for a Platonic solid. The regular pentagon and the square can only meet three at a point and have any excess to allow forming a solid angle. The Platonic solids thus formed are the dodecahedron and the cube. The equilateral triangle can meet three, four, or five at a point and form a solid angle; the figures formed are the tetrahedron, octahedron, and icosahedron, respectively.