Platonic solids
In this section...
Platonic solids and crystals
The history of Platonic Solids
Angles, faces and sides
The five platonic solids
Tetrahedron
Hexahedron
Octahedron
Dodecahedron
Icosahedron
You may wonder why there is information about platonic solids on the Astral
Alchemy website.
Well, platonic solids have a lot in common with crystals.
Platonic solids are perfectly formed solids with the following unique conditions.
All:
- sides are equal
- angles are the same
- faces are identical
This is important to consider, not only from a mathematical point of view,
but one that plays an important role in the formation of crystals.
Platonic solids and crystals
All crystals are uniquely formed under a variety of conditions, however what
makes them so beautiful and unique is their chemical and atomic structure.
You can read more about the chemical composition of crystals on our
crystals page, however read on to learn more about
platonic solids.
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The history of Platonic Solids
Platonic solids and their regularities were discovered by the Pythagoreans
and were called originally Pythagorean solids.
The Greek philosopher Plato, described the solids in detail later in his book Timaeus and assigned the items to the
Platonic conception of the world, hence today they are well-known under
the name Platonic Solids.
Angles, faces and sides
In the corners of platonic solids, the same number of sides collide to form
a perfectly shaped closed form.
No other possibilities can form a closed convex solid. For example, four squares or
three hexagons at each corner would result in a flat surface, like floor tiles.
The five platonic solids
There are only five types of platonic solids: tetrahedron,
hexahedron, octahedron,
dodecahedron and icosahedron.
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