Platonic Solids
Mathematics · Interactive
- DimensionsSubject to on-site plan
- PresentationInteractive
- PricingQuoted by manufacture spec
Purpose & Scientific Principle
The exhibition uses a simple multi-faceted geometric assembly game to explain the composition of multi-faceted geometric bodies, as well as Plato's conjectures about the formation of geometric bodies and the world.
How to Operate
Platonic solids: Plato proposed the concept that there are only five kinds of regular polyhedrons, so regular polyhedrons are also called Platonic solids. When we flip a regular polyhedron, all the vertices must completely coincide with what they were before the flip, and a structure that satisfies these conditions can be called a regular polyhedron. Plato's inference was confirmed by later mathematicians that there are only five kinds of regular polyhedrons: because in addition to being composed of regular polygons, a regular polyhedron must meet two conditions. First, each face that makes up a regular polyhedron must be the same regular polygon. For example, each face is made up of a regular triangle, or each face is made up of a regular quadrilateral. Second, the situation of each vertex of a regular polyhedron must be the same. For example, if one of the vertices is connected by three edges, then all the vertices must be connected by three edges. If one of the vertices is connected by four edges, then all the vertices must be connected by four edges.
Polyhedron and Plato's conception of the world: If the facets of a convex polyhedron are congruent regular polygons, it is called a regular polyhedron. There are only five such regular convex polyhedra, namely regular tetrahedron, regular hexahedron, regular octahedron, regular dodecahedron, and regular icosahedron. Plato guessed that the four elements on earth, wind, fire, water and earth, and in the sky correspond to these five shapes respectively. Therefore, these five regular polyhedrons are also called Platonic polyhedrons. Specifically, the regular tetrahedron corresponds to fire, the regular hexahedron corresponds to earth, the regular octahedron corresponds to air, the regular icosahedron corresponds to water, and the regular dodecahedron corresponds to the universe, and the entire celestial body is a sphere.
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