Math 103 Activity  

Regular Convex Polyhedra

1. Complete the following table with the appropriate numbers.

 

Polyhedron

# of vertices

V

# of edges

E

# of faces

F

# of edges on a face: N

# of edges meeting at a vertex: M

tetrahedron

 

 

 

 

 

cube

 

 

 

 

 

octahedron

 

 

 

 

 

dodecahedron

 

 

 

 

 

icosahedron

 

 

 

 

 


2. Notice that the cube and the octahedron have the same number of edges. Describe two other ways in which the features of these polyhedra can be related.







What can you say about the relation between the features of the dodecahedron and the icosahedron?






3. Using the table in activity 1, complete the following table:


Polyhedron

F times N

V times M

E

tetrahedron

 

 

 

cube

 

 

 

octahedron

 

 

 

dodecahedron

 

 

 

icosahedron

 

 

 


What relation do you see between F times N, V times M, and E?



Write a brief explanation for this relation.

[Hint: How many vertices are on an edge? How many polygons meet on an edge?]