Dodecahedron

Number of faces: 12
Number of edges: 30
Number of vertices:
20

Tetrahedron
Number of faces: 4
Number of edges: 6
Number of vertices: 4
Cube
Number of faces: 6
Number of edges: 12
Number of vertices: 8

Octahedron
Number of faces: 8
Number of edges: 12
Number of vertices: 6
 Icosahedron
Number of faces: 20
Number of edges: 30
Number of vertices:
12

Platonic Solids
There are five so named because they were known at the time of Plato circa (427-347 BC). These
polyhedra are also called regular polyhedra because they are made up of faces that are all the same
regular polygon.

Why only five Platonic Solids

A Platonic solid is a polyhedron all of whose
faces are congruent regular convex polygons*,
and where the same number of faces meet at
every vertex.

The Greeks recognized that there are only five

platonic solids. But why is this so?
The key observation is that the interior angles
of the polygons meeting at a vertex of a
polyhedron add to less than 360 degrees.

Tetrahedron:
Three triangels at a vertex: 3*60 = 180
degrees

Octahedron:
Four triangles at a vertex: 4*60 = 240 degrees

Icosahedron:
Five triangles at a vertex: 5*60 = 300 degrees

Cube:
Three squares at a vertex: 3*90 = 270 degrees

Dodecahedron:
Three pentagons at a vertex: 3*108 = 324
degrees

Note:
Six triangles: 6*60 = 360 degrees
Four squares: 4*90 = 360 degrees
Four pentagons: 4*108 = 432 degrees
Three hexagons: 3*120 = 360 degrees
So there are only five Platonic Solids!

*) Regular means that the sides of the polygon

are all the same length.
Congruent means that the polygons are all the
same size and shape.