Challenge

Build Archimedean Solids

Photo of pages from a 1543 printed booklet of two Archimedian solids with their nets by Augustin Hirschvogel dated 1543
Archimedean solids and their nets from Augustin Hirschvogel's booklet "A True and Thorough Instruction in Geometry" dated 1543. Via The Met Open Access Initiative

Build regular convex polyhedra with faces that are regular polygons.

  • What does vertex-transitive mean? How many Archimedean solids are there? How do you know there are no more?
  • Who are Archimedes, Johannes Kepler, and John Conway? How did they name and document these shapes?
  • What rule defines the relationship between faces, vertices and edges for these shapes? Does the rule apply to all polyhedra?
  • Which Archimedean Solid models a Carbon allotrope?
  • How can you depict 3D shapes in 2 dimensions? For each method, what information is lost?

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