dodecahedron

mathematics

Written by

The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Last updated

June 25, 2026

Quick Summary

A dodecahedron is a geometric solid with 12 faces. It is one of the five Platonic solids, which are regular polyhedra where all faces are identical regular polygons and all vertices are identical. Specifically, a dodecahedron has 12 pentagonal faces. The prefix "dodeca-" means twelve. These solids have been studied since antiquity, with connections made to fundamental elements and the cosmos.1234

Summary created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.

7 Britannica Sources

Ask Britannica AI about this topic

Britannica doesn't have a full article on this topic, so we've curated a list of our relevant coverage.

garnet
Crystal structure
…24 sides and are called dodecahedrons (see photograph) and trapezohedrons (see photograph), respectively, or they are combinations of such forms (see photograph). All tend to be nearly equant. A few studies have led to the suggestion that these crystal habits can be correlated with chemical composition—i.e., that dodecahedrons are most…
Read More
…24 sides and are called dodecahedrons (see photograph) and trapezohedrons (see photograph), respectively, or they are combinations of such forms (see photograph). All tend to be nearly equant. A few studies have led to the suggestion that these crystal habits can be correlated with chemical composition—i.e., that dodecahedrons are most…
Read More