Cuboctahedron

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Cuboctahedron

Tyler Knight
Evan Tarian

http://kjmaclean.com/Geometry/Cubeoctahedron.html

GAT
Mr. Acre
4 March 2015

Cuboctahedron

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A cuboctahedron is a 3-dimensional shape that looks like a cube with the corners
cut off. It is an Archimedean solid. An Archimedean solid is related to a Platonic solid.
Archimedean solids are semi-regular convex polyhedron that is composed two or more
regular polygons. A cuboctahedron has 14 faces, six square and eight triangular, all
regular. It also has 12 vertices and 24 edges. At each vertex four faces meet; two
squares and two triangles. This paper will explore how to find the side lengths, the total
surface area, the volume, as well as the dimensions of the nets. Total surface area is
the area of all the faces on a 3-dimensional shape while volume is the total space that
the 3-dimensional shape takes up. Throughout the paper the measurements will be
based off the cube that the cuboctahedron would fit be congruent to if it had all of its
corners. Each edge of that cube will be 9.6 cm.

Figure 1. Base Cube


Figure 1, above, represents the cube that is being used as the base for this
paper where x equals the side length of the cube and where 1/2x equals the distance

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from the end of a side to the midpoint of the cube or half of the side. Since the side
length is 9.6 cm which equals x then the distance to the midpoint must be 4.8 cm
because of 9.6 equals 4.8.

Figure 2. Finding the Side Length of a Cuboctahedron


Figure 2, above, shows a method to find the side length of a cuboctahedron.
To find the side length you have to find the distance to the midpoint, in this case
4.8 cm. After that you must have knowledge of special right triangles, also known a 4545-90 and 30-60-90 triangles, because you have a 45-45-90 triangle formed when you
connect the midpoints. In a 45-45-90 triangle it is possible to find the side opposite the
90 degree angle, the side missing, two ways. The first way is to use the Pythagorean
Theorem,

a + b =c

, and multiply the each side by its self and then add the two sides

up and find the square root of the number. The second way can only happen when the
two sides are the same number and then you simply have to take the number and

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multiply it by the square of 2. Either way that is chosen to find the distance the answer
will be 4.82 cm. To shorten the process it can also be found with the equation 1/2x2.
Now to find the area of the square it is a simple process. The area formula of a
square is A=B*H

where B equals the base and H equals the height. Since all the

sides of a square are the same it could also be wrote as

X2

where X equals the side

of the square. Either way used the area of the square is 46.08 square cm.

Figure 3. How to Find the Area of the Triangle Face of the Cuboctahedron
Figure 3, above, represents a method to find the area of the triangle face of the
cuboctahedron.
Earlier, knowledge of the 45-45-90 triangles was needed to find the side lengths
of the cuboctahedrons but now knowledge of 30-60-90 triangles is needed to be able to

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find the area. The area equation for a triangle is

1
A= *B*H
2

where B is the base and

H is the height. But since the height is unknown it has to be found to find the area. Since
all the sides of the cuboctahedron are equal then the triangular faces are equilateral
triangles. There are many ways to find the height of an equilateral triangle and one is to
use 30-60-90 triangles. If an equilateral triangle angle is bisected the triangle is split into
two smaller triangles each becoming a 30-60-90 triangle.

Figure 4. 30-60-90 Triangle Formed by an Angle Bisector


Figure 4, above, shows what a triangle bisecting an equilateral triangle would
look like.
Since a side of the cuboctahedron is equal to 4.82 cm and segment AC was a
side of the cuboctahedron and it remained unchanged during the bisection, it is still
equal to 4.82 cm. In 30-60-90 triangles the side opposite the 30 degree angle can be
labeled as x, the side opposite the 90 degree angle can be labeled as 2x, and the side

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opposite the 60 degree angle can be labeled as

x3 . Since 4.82 is opposite the 90

degree angle it represents 2x and to get to x you have to divide it in half. Once you
divide 2x in half, it should be found that the length of the side opposite the 30 degree
angle equals 2.42 cm. Now to find the length of the side opposite the 60 degree angle,
or the height of the equilateral triangle, you must multiply x, in this case 2.42, by 3.
Once multiplied the solution is 2.46. Now that the height of the triangle is known it is
possible to find the area of the triangle. As stated earlier the area formula of a triangle is

1
A= *B*H . So the equation that would go with the cuboctahedron for this paper is
2

1
A= *4.8 2*2.4 6 . When multiplied the solution is 11.523.
2
Now to find the total surface add up the area of all of the faces and that becomes
the area. Since there is six square and eight triangular faces to find the total surface
area multiply the area of a single square face by six and the area of a single triangular
face by eight. The area of the square face is 46.08 square cm. When multiplied by six it
becomes 276.48 square cm. The area of the triangular face is 11.523 and to find the
area of all the triangles multiply 11.523 by eight which equals 92.163. When added up
the total surface area of the cuboctahedron equals 276.48 square cm + 92.163 square
cm. Finding the total surface area can be written in the equation 6s+8t where s is the
area of one square face and where t is the area of one triangular face.
Finding the volume and nets can be represented in three different cases which
for this paper will be represented as Case 1, Case 2, and Case 3 respectively.

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Case 1 is finding the dimensions of the net of a corner pyramid of a
cuboctahedron. Since the cuboctahedron is a cube with the corners cut off from the
midpoints of the edges. The corner pyramid is part of the cube that was cut off.

s
s
s

All sides labeled s are congruent

Figure 6. The Corner Pyramid of the Cuboctahedron


Figure 6, above, is an enlarged view of the corner pyramid.
To find the lengths of all the sides of the corner pyramid the process is quite
simple. The line connecting the midpoints is known to be a side of the cuboctahedron
which has a length of 4.82. All segments with a dash through them in the figure above
are equal to 4.82. All the segments remaining in the corner pyramid are equal to the
length of the distance from the end of the edge to the midpoint which equals 4.8. This
makes the corner peace a pyramid with an equilateral triangle base and three isosceles
triangle faces.

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Figure 7. Corner Pyramid with Measurements


Figure 7, above, shows the corner pyramid cut off the cube.
Now, to find the volume of corner pyramid the volume formula of a pyramid is
needed. The volume formula for pyramids is area of the base * height * 1/3. Since the
area of the base is the triangular face of the cuboctahedron so the area of the base is
11.523.
Now, to find the volume of corner pyramid the volume formula of a pyramid is
needed. The volume formula for pyramids is area of the base * height * 1/3. The height
is usually the most difficult thing to find in the volume formula. To get the height, the
easiest thing to do is to turn the pyramid on the side. While this will give it a new base,
the height will be much simpler to find. The height of the pyramid would be 4.8. The
base of the pyramid would be (b)(h). Substituted, this would be 1/2(4.8)(4.8). The
area of the base is 11.52 cm2. So, 1/3(11.52)*(4.8) is 18.432 cm3. Since a cube has 8
corners, multiply this number by 8. This should come up to be 147.456 cm3. Now, since
this is the area of just the corners that were cut off, the volume of the cube (884.736)

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must be found. Finally, subtract the volume of the pyramid from the volume of the cube.
The end volume should be 737.28.
Case two was a little more difficult. For case two, there is a rectangular prism
and a pyramid with a rectangular base. For the rectangular prism, the first thing that is
needed is the size of the longer sides. This was the simplest part, with it just being the
side length of the cube the cuboctahedron. For this example the length is 9.6 cm. Next,
the length of the shorter sides is needed. Since these are the square faces of the
cuboctahedron, these need to be the same length of them. As mentioned in case one,
the sides of the square faces are 4.82 cm. This is found because of the 45-45-90
triangle rule. Since the volume formula for a prism is Base*Width*Height, the volume of
the prism is 4.82*4.82*9.6, or 442.368 cm3.

Figure 8. Rectangular Prisim


Figure 8, above, shows the rectangular prism and the rectangular pyramid.

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For the second part of case two, the rectangular pyramid, the equation is a bit
more difficult. Since the pyramid must fit on the longer side of the prism, the rectangle
base has measurements of 9.6 cm on the long sides and 4.82 cm on the shorter sides.
Next the side lengths of the triangles of the pyramid are needed. Since two of the
triangles combined will create a square, they must have a side length of 4.82 cm.
However, the volume formula for a pyramid is 1/3(area of base) (Height of pyramid).
The height of the pyramid can be fairly difficult to find. The first thing that is needed is
the slant height of the pyramid, also known as the height of the triangle. To do this, split
the equilateral triangle (the one on the smaller base) into two 30-60-90 triangles. 30-6090 triangles are special right triangles. The rule with 30-60-90 triangles is that the
hypotenuse is 2x, the smallest leg is x, and the longer leg is x3. Each right triangle will
then have a base of 2.42 cm. The height of the right triangles, and the equilateral
triangles, will be 2.46 cm according the 30-60-90 triangle rule. The next thing that is
needed for the height of the pyramid is the distance from the equilateral triangle to the
middle of the rectangular base. This will be 4.8 cm because 4.8 is one half of 9.6. The
final step in finding the height of the pyramid is to find the actual height. To do this, use
the Pythagorean Theorem in reverse. Instead of a 2 +b2=c2, this problem requires c2b2=a2 because the hypotenuse and one leg has been found. So, plugging the numbers
into the equation, the equation ends up being 2.46 2-4.82=a2. After simplifying the
equation, the new numbers are 34.56-23.04=a 2. Simplified again it is 11.52=a2, and
then 11.52=a, the height. The 11.52 is equivalent to 2.42. So, finally, time to find the
volume of the pyramid. 1/3(area of base) (Height of pyramid) = 1/3(46.082) (2.42)=
73.728 cm3. So, the volume of the cuboctahedron is 4(volume of pyramid) + (Volume of

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prism) or 4(73.728)+(442.368). So, the total volume of the cuboctahedron is 737.28
cm3, the same as in case 1.
Case three is another way of finding the volume of a cuboctahedron. In this
method, eight tetrahedrons and six square pyramids are used. The volume for a
tetrahedron is, since it is technically a pyramid, 1/3(area of base) (Height). The side
length for a tetrahedron is, as it is for all triangular face sides, 4.82 cm. Since it is a
tetrahedron, all side lengths are 4.82 cm. So, like what was done in case 2, the height
of the tetrahedron is needed. So, given an equilateral triangle from the tetrahedron,
divide that into 2 equal 30-60-90 triangles. As stated before, the base for each right
triangle will be 2.42 cm. Also, as in the previous case, the slant height of the
tetrahedron is 2.46 cm. Once again, the height of the pyramid must be determined.
However, for the height of a tetrahedron, instead of finding the midpoint of the pyramid,
the 2/3 point must be found. So, 2/3 of 2.46 is 1.66 cm. The reason the midpoint of
the tetrahedron cannot be used for the height is because the apex is not directly above
the center. Like what was done in case two, the Pythagorean Theorem must be used
in reverse. So, c2-b2=a2, or 4.822-1.662=a2. Simplified, the answer is 30.72=a2. So,
the height of the tetrahedron is 30.72, or 3.23 cm. The volume of one tetrahedron is
1/3(1/2(b)(h)) (height), which is 1/3(2.42*2.46) (3.23). Simplified, this is 1/3(5.7312)
(3.23). Simplified a 3rd time, it is (1.9112) (3.23). Finally, the volume of 1 tetrahedron
is 36.672 cm3.

a
a

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Figure 9. Case 3 Shapes
Figure 9, above, shows the tetrahedron and square pyramid of case 3.
As in the rest of the cases, the side length of the square is 4.82 cm. The triangles that
make up the sides of the pyramid also have side lengths of 4.82 cm because they are
equilateral triangles that share one side with the square, which has side lengths of
4.82 cm. As in the rest of the pyramid volumes, the slant height of the pyramid is
needed. So, as in the other pyramid problems, the slant height is 2.46 cm. It is
2.42cm because of the 30-60-90 triangle rule after splitting it from the equilateral
triangles. The midpoint of the pyramid is 2.42, half of the side length of 4.82. Now
that all required elements for the height of the pyramid are present, the height can be
found. So, the height of the pyramid is 4.8. Since the slant height was 2.46, and the
midpoint was 2.42, the height is 2.44, or 4.8. The volume of the pyramid is 1/3(46.08)
(4.8). The volume is 73.728 cm3. Now, to find the volume of the cuboctahedron, find the
volume of the tetrahedron and square pyramid, and multiply by the number of figures
needed. What that means is 8(36.672)+6(73.728) which simplified is
442.368+294.912=737.28 cm3.
In conclusion, the cuboctahedron is an interesting shape. Who knew that just
cutting off the corners of a cube can make a completely different shape? The reason
that the volume is all ways the same is because no matter which case is used to find the
volume in the end the shape measured will always be the same. Finding the new
measurements for the cuboctahedron can be difficult but hopefully this paper helps to
clear any issues up.

Knight-Tarian 12
Works Cited
"Cuboctahedron." -- from Wolfram MathWorld. Web. 4 Mar. 2015.
<http://mathworld.wolfram.com/Cuboctahedron.html>.
"The Cube Octahedron." The Cube Octahedron. Web. 4 Mar. 2015.
<http://kjmaclean.com/Geometry/Cubeoctahedron.html>.
"The Cube, Octahedron, and Cuboctahedron." Cuboctahedron. Web. 4 Mar. 2015.
<http://www.geom.uiuc.edu/~sudzi/polyhedra/archimedean/cubocta.html>.

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