Polyhedron facts for kids

Some polyhedra Dodecahedron (Regular polyhedron) Small stellated dodecahedron (Regular star) Icosidodecahedron (Uniform) Great cubicuboctahedron (Uniform star) Rhombic triacontahedron (Uniform dual) Elongated pentagonal cupola (Convex regular-faced) Octagonal prism (Uniform prism) Square antiprism (Uniform antiprism)

Most dice are polyhedra.

A polyhedron is a cool 3D shape in geometry. Think of it like a solid object with flat sides, straight edges, and sharp corners. The word "polyhedron" comes from Greek words meaning "many faces."

Mathematicians have slightly different ideas about what makes a polyhedron. But generally, it's defined by how many faces or edges it has.

What's in a Name?

Polyhedra often get their names from how many flat faces they have. Here are some common ones:

• A tetrahedron has four faces. These faces are usually triangles.
• A pentahedron has five faces. It can look like a pyramid with a four-sided base.
• A hexahedron has six faces. A regular hexahedron is a cube.
• A heptahedron has seven faces. This can be a prism based on a pentagon, or a pyramid based on a hexagon.

Images for kids

• 

  A skeletal polyhedron (specifically, a rhombicuboctahedron) drawn by Leonardo da Vinci to illustrate a book by Luca Pacioli

• 

  The tetrahemihexahedron, a unique polyhedron with four triangular faces (red) and three square faces (yellow). Like a Möbius strip, you can travel along its surface and reach the "other side" without crossing an edge.

• 

  Convex polyhedron blocks on display at the Universum museum in Mexico City

• 

  Full icosahedral symmetry divides the sphere into 120 triangular domains.

See also

In Spanish: Poliedro para niños