Polyhedra
In any of the Cabri 3D files embedded below, click on the figure and then drag the red point. Right-click and drag to change the view angle.
1. Archimedean solids (Word document)
Use the Cabri 3D regular polyhedra tools to create and explore the Platonic solids, or see Chartwell-Yorke intro for instructions on constructing these.
These are polyhedra that have vertices or edges or both progressively chopped off.
These are shapes created by folding polygons together, which are sometimes, but not always, polyhedra..
Keep dragging the red point slowly after the dodecahedron forms - another shape will appear.
The "jitterbug" below will transform into different shapes as the red point is dragged. The empty spaces can be filled to create a number of different polyhedra.
There is also a model of the Steffen polyhedron, the simplest truly flexible polyhedron, in this section.
Some of these are just beautiful shapes made by a simple method, such as the one below, rather than true geodesic domes.
6. Stellations
Some of the stellations of the dodecahedron and icosahedron, made by essentially the same method as the fold-up polyhedra.
7. Parasols
Based on the work of Jen-Chung Chuan. Drag the big red point.