Platonic solid
nounEtymology From Platonic + solid, in reference to the Greek philosopher Plato, who in his dialogue Timaeus theorised about a correspondence between these solids and the classical physical elements.
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Geometry, Mathematics, Sciences Any of five convex polyhedra with congruent regular polygonal faces, which have a high degree of symmetry and have been studied since antiquity.
- As the names suggest, the groups and their existence are connected to the five Platonic solids. They are in fact the rotation groups of the Platonic solids.1961, J. S. Griffith, The Theory of Transition-Metal Ions, page 41:
- The boat which the gods tell Utnapishtim to build is no ordinary boat but a perfect cube with seven levels; the ark resembles more a Platonic solid from the Timaeus than a seaworthy craft.1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, London: Rider/Hutchinson & Co., page 202:
2 more examples
- The erroneous number of planets, six, gave him^([Johannes Kepler]) the clue for his model of five Platonic solids (the five regular convex polyhedra) on which he erected the universe.1993, Aharon Kantorovich, Scientific Discovery: Logic and Tinkering, page 160:
- In the 13th and final book, he^([Euclid]) shows how to construct the five Platonic solids, and proves that they are the only regular polyhedra (bodies whose faces are congruent, regular polygons) that exist.2015, Alexander A. Stepanov, Daniel E. Rose, From Mathematics to Generic Programming, page 44:
- Related terms
- Platonic hydrocarbon, Archimedean solid, Catalan solid, Johnson solid, Kepler solid
- Hyponyms
- cube, dodecahedron, icosahedron, octahedron, regular hexahedron, tetrahedron