Truncated octahedron facts for kids

A truncated octahedron is a special 3D shape called an Archimedean solid. Imagine a shape that looks like a gemstone or a fancy dice! It has 14 flat sides, which are called faces. Eight of these faces are hexagons (shapes with six sides), and the other six are squares (shapes with four equal sides).

This cool shape is made by taking a regular octahedron (a shape with eight triangular faces) and carefully cutting off its corners. Each corner of an octahedron has four edges meeting there. When you cut off these corners, you replace them with flat square faces.

What is a Truncated Octahedron?

A truncated octahedron is a type of polyhedron, which is a 3D shape with flat faces. It's special because all its faces are regular polygons (meaning all sides and angles are equal), and all its corners (called vertices) look exactly the same. This makes it an Archimedean solid, named after the ancient Greek mathematician Archimedes.

How is it Made?

You can think of making a truncated octahedron like sculpting. You start with an octahedron, which looks like two square pyramids joined at their bases. Then, you slice off each of its six pointy corners. These cuts are made in a way that turns each corner into a new square face. The original triangular faces of the octahedron then become the hexagonal faces of the new shape.

Where Can We See Truncated Octahedra?

This unique shape appears in many places, from nature to toys and art!

• Crystals: Some minerals, like Pyrite, can naturally form crystals that look like truncated octahedra.
• Games and Puzzles: You might find this shape in puzzles, like some variants of the Rubik's Cube, or even in ancient dice.
• Construction Toys: Building sets like Polydron use shapes that can form truncated octahedra, helping you understand how they fit together.
• Art and Architecture: Because of its interesting geometry, the truncated octahedron is sometimes used in sculptures and building designs.

Images for kids

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  Ancient Chinese dice

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  Sculpture in Bonn

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  A Rubik's Cube variant

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  A model made with a Polydron construction set

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  A Pyrite crystal

See also

In Spanish: Octaedro truncado para niños