The following solids are frequently seen and used.

Double click each diagram for more information.

 

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Cube
Cuboid

Triangular Prism

Rectangular Pyramid

Solid_Objects_06.gif
Solid_Objects_07.gif
Solid_Objects_08.gif
Solid_Objects_09.gif

Triangular Pyramid

Cone
Cylinder

Sphere

Properties of Solids

 

Solids are three dimensional (3D) objects which have length, width and height.

 

Solid_Objects_10.gif

solid has faces, edges and vertices.

(If an edge is hidden from view a dotted line or dashes are used.)

The cuboid shown has:

  • 6 faces
  • 8 vertices
  • 12 edges
Solid_Objects_11.gif
prism is a solid with the same cross section or shape for all of its length
Solid_Objects_12.gif
pyramidKheops-Pyramid.jpg has a base which can be any shape and the corners of the base taper to a point called the apex.

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base

 

 

Platonic Solids

A Platonic solid is a regular polyhedron.

A regular polyhedron is a solid in which all of the faces are the same shape and all the edges are the same length.

The Platoninc solids were named after the Greek philosopher, Plato.

There are only 5 Platonic solids. These are shown in the diagram on the right.

Solid_Objects_14.jpg
The Platonic Solids
Shape
tetrahedron
4 faces − each a triangle
cube
6 faces − each a square
octahedron
8 faces − each a triangle
dodecahedron
12 faces − each a pentagon
icosahedron
20 faces − each a triangle