Goudie1

Cuboctahedronproject

Thecuboctahedronhassixsquarefacesandeighttriangularfaces,fourteen
facestotal.ItisanArchimedeansolid,whichisathreedimensionalshape.Itisnta
Platonicsolid,aregularthreedimensionalshape,becausethecuboctahedronsfaces
arentallsimilar.ItisrelatedtoPlatonicsolidsbecausetheCuboctahedronsfacesare
allregularshapes.Thecuboctahedronhasatotaloftwelvevertices,ateachone,two
trianglesandtwosquarefacesmeet,makingatotaloffourfacesmeeting.Thispaper
willteachhowtofindthecuboctahedronvolumeandsurfacearea.

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Therearemanywaystofindthevolume,surfacearea,andsidelengthsofthe
cuboctahedron.Volumeishowmuchspacetheshapetakesupandsurfaceareaisthe
sumofallthefaces.Agoodmethodforfindingthesidelengthsofthecuboctahedronis
usingthebaseofthecubeandmarkingthemidpoints.Whenonemidpointisconnected
byalinetoamidpointofanadjacentedge,itcreatesthesidelengthofthe
cuboctahedron.Inourcase,thesidelengthofthecubehas27.8cm.

Figure1.FindingtheSideLengthoftheCuboctahedron
Figure1showsamethodforfindingthelengthofacuboctahedronsside.The
outsidesidelengthofthecubeisequaltothevariablex,inthiscase27.8cm.Theline
segmentbetweenavertexandamidpointisx,inthiscaseis13.9cm.Inordertofind
thelastsidesegment,youmustunderstandspecialrighttriangles,alsoknownas
454590triangles.Ina454590triangle,thetwolegsarealwayscongruent,andthe
hypotenuse(thelinedirectlyacrossfromthe90degreeangle)isalwaysequaltothe
measurementofoneofthelegsmultipliedby2,so1/2x2,makingthefinal

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measurementinthiscaseis13.92cm.Thisnumberisthesamemeasurementfor
everysideofthecuboctahedron,includingthesidelengthsofthetrianglefaces.

Figure2.FindingtheTriangularFaceoftheCuboctahedron
Figure2showsthesidelengthsnecessaryforfindingtheareaofoneofthe
triangularfaceofthecuboctahedron.Theoutsideedgeofthetriangularfaceistheside
lengthofthecuboctahedron,whichisx2,orinthiscase,13.92cm.Next,byusing
basicknowledgeof306090triangles,findthelengthofthehypotenusesothatitis
possibletofindthetrianglestotalarea.Ina306090triangle,thehypotenuseisalways
twicethesizeofthesideoppositethe30degreeangIea306090triangle,theside
oppositethe60degreeangleisalwaysthemeasurementofthesideoppositethe30
degreeanglemultipliedby3.Ina306090triangle,thesideoppositeofthe60degree
angleisalwaysthemeasurementofthesideoppositethe30degreeanglemultipliedby
3.Thatmakesthealtitudeofthetriangleinfigure2equalto1/4x2(3),whichis

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1/4x6whensimplified.Whenx(27.8cm)issubstitutedintotheexpression,thealtitude
ofthetriangularfaceequals6.956cm.
Nowthatthesidelengthsandaltitudesforthetwotypesoffacesforthe
cuboctahedronareknown,theareasofthefacescanbefoundusingtheformulas
shownbelow.

Figure3.FindingtheAreasoftheCuboctahedronsFaces
Oncetheareasofthetwotypesoffacesofthecuboctahedronarefound,then
findingthesurfaceareaiseasy.Allthatmustbedoneisaddtheareaofallthefaces
together.Aformulathatcanbeusedis6(1/2x2x1/2x2)+8(xx2x1/4x6)=
Surfacearea,orinthiscasewherex=27.8,6(13.9213.92)+8(1/313.926.956),
whichcanbesimplifiedto6(386.42)+8(32.201712).Thisgivesasurfaceareaof
2.
2318.52+2318.52+m

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Nowthattheareasofthefaceshavebeenfound,itispossibleforthevolumeto
befound.Therewillbethreewaystofindthevolumeinthispaper.Figure4showsone
way

Figure4.FindingtheCuboctahedronsVolumewithCornerPyramids
Figure4showsthefirstwayoffindingthevolume.Thesegmentsthatcreatethe
cubesverticesisequalto1/2x,orinthiscase,13.9cm.Theedgesthatisalsothe
edgesofthetriangularfaceofthecuboare1/2x2,inthiscase,13.92cm.Then,
knowingthefirstmeasurement,plugitintotheformulaforfindingthevolumeofa
pyramid,whichisbaseheight.Thebaseis1/2x1/2x,inthiscase
2
1/21/227.81/227.8,whensimplified,is96.605cm
.Thenmultiplythatbythe

height,1/2x,whichis13.9cminthiscase,sothefinalformulais1/2x1/2x
1/2x,andinthiscaseis1/2(27.8)(27.8)(27.8),whichcanbesimplifiedto
3
1/313.913.913.9.Thisgivesusagrandvolumeof447.60317cm
forthepyramidfor

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thiscase.
Fromthere,findthevolumeofthecubecreatedbyaddingthecornerpyramids.
Thevolumeofthiscubecanbefoundwiththeformulaxxx,orinthiscase
27.827.827.8.Thisgivesavolumeof21484.952cm3forthecube.Thentofindthe
volumeofthecuboctahedron,subtractthevolumeofthecornerpyramid,1/21/2x
1/2x1/2x(447.603167cm3)multipliedby8(becausethereare8pyramids)fromthe
volumeofthecube,xxx(21484.952cm3).Thefinalformulawouldbe(xxx)8
(1/2x1/2x1/2x),inthiscase,21484.9528(447.603167)3580.82534.Thisgives
3
usourcuboctahedronsvolumeof17904.1267cm
.

AnotherwaytofindthevolumeofacuboctahedronisshowninFigure5.

Figure5.FindingtheCuboctahedronsVolumewithaSquarePrismandRectangular
pyramids.

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Figure5showsthesecondwayoffindingthevolumebysplittingthe
cuboctahedronintoasquareprismandfourrectangularpyramids.Theformulafor
findingthevolumeofaprismisbaseheight.Thebaseofthesquareprismisequalto
1/2x21/2x2.Inthiscase,wherex=27.8cm,theareaofthebasewouldbe386.42
cm.Thenyoumultiplythebasebytheheight,whichisx,orinthiscase,27.8.This
makestheoverallformulax1/2x21/2x2,orinthiscase,27.813.9213.92.
3
Forthiscase,thetotalvolumeofthesquareprismis10,742.476cm
.

Tofindthevolumeoftherectangularpyramids,theformulabhisneeded.
Thebaseisx1/2x2,andinthiscasewherex=27.8,thebasesareawouldbe
2
386.422cm
.Next,youhavetofindtheheight.Tofindtheheight,youmustfirstfind

theslantheight.Thethinnerofthetwotriangularfacesonthepyramidisalsothe
triangularfaceofthecuboctahedron.Knowingthis,itisknownthatthesidesareall
1/2x2,or13.92inthiscase.Thelinesegmentthatcreatestheheightalsocreatestwo
306090triangles.Ina306090triangle,thehypotenuseisalwaystwicethesizeofthe
sideoppositethe30degreeangIeandina306090triangle,thesideoppositethe60
degreeangleisalwaysthemeasurementofthesideoppositethe30degreeangle
multipliedby3.Thismeansthattheslantheightis1/4x6,orinthiscase,6.956.The
slantheightis6.956cm.Next,Pythagoreantheoremmustbeusetofindtheheightof

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2
thepyramid.ThePythagoreantheoremstatesthatinarighttriangle,a
(leg)+b2(other

2
leg)=c2(hypotenuse).Knowingthis,1/4x6(slantheight)
=1/2x2(halfthelengthofthe

2
2
2
2 2
base)
+b(theheight)
.Inthiscase,6.956
=13.9
+b
(height),heightwouldendup

being6.952cm.
Withtheheight,itisnowpossibletofindthevolumeofthepyramidusingthe
formulabh.Pluginvalues,andtheequationbecome1/3(x1/2x2)height=
volume.Inthiscase,wherex=27.8cm,1/3(27.81/227.82)6.952=volume,which
canbesimplifiedto386.4226.952=volume.Forthiscase,thevolumeofthe
3
rectangularpyramidis1790.41267cm
.

Next,tofindthevolumeofthecuboctahedron,simplyaddthevolumeofthe
rectangularprismmultipliedbyfour(becausethereisfourpyramids)andaddthe
volumeofthesquareprism.Thefinalformulaforfindingthevolumeofthe
cuboctahedronisx1/2x21/2x2+4(1/3(x1/2x)h.Forthiscase,theformula
wouldbe27.813.9213.92+4(1/3(27.813.92)6.952,whichcanbesimplified
downto10,742.476+(41790.41267).Thismakesthevolumeofthecuboctahedron
3
equalto17904.1267cm
.

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Figure6.FindingtheCuboctahedronsVolumeusingTetrahedronsandSquare
Pyramids
Thethirdwayofhowtofindthevolumeofthecuboctahedronistobreakthe
cuboctahedronintoeighttetrahedronsandsixsquarepyramids,findthevolumeof
tetrahedronandonesquarepyramid.Then,youwouldmultiplythevolumeofthe
tetrahedronbyeightandthevolumeofthesquarepyramidbysix,thenaddthetwoto
findthevolume.
First,findthevolumeofthesquarepyramid.Beginbyfindingtheareaofthe
baseofthesquarepyramid.Oneedgeisequalto1/2x2(foundinparagraph3),
makingthebasesarea=1/2x21/2x2.Inthiscase,wherex=27.8cm,thebases
area=386.42.Fromthere,theheightmustbefound.Theheightisequalto1/2x(see
pictureonpg1forclarity),orinthiscase,13.9cm.Now,byusingtheformulafor
pyramid(

baseheight),findthevolumeofthesquarepyramid.Thefinalformulais
(1/2x21/2x2)1/2x,inthiscase,(13.9213.92)13.9.Thisgivesus
3
avolumeof1790.412667cm
forthesquarepyramid.

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Next,findthevolumeofthetetrahedron.Inatetrahedron,allthefacesare
congruentandallthefacesareequilateraltriangles.Knowingthis,findthebase.The
sidelengthofthetriangleisequaltox2(foundinparagraph5)andanaltitudeof
1/4x6(foundinparagraph4),givingthebaseanareaof48.302512.Tofindthe
height,theformulaedge6isused,inthiscase13.926,whichequals
4.633412cm.Then,tofindthevolumeofthetetrahedron,usetheformula
baseheight,orinthiscase,48.3025124.633412.Thisgivesthe
tetrahedronsvolumeof895.219214004.
Finally,youhavetofindthecuboctahedronsvolumeusingthesemeasurements.
Tofindthevolume,multiplythevolumeofthesquarepyramidbysixandthevolumeof
thetetrahedronbyeight,thenaddthosetwosums.Soforthiscase,wherex=27.8,the
formulawouldbe(61790.412667)+(8895.219214004)7=volume.The
3
cuboctahedronsvolumeis17904.1267cm
.

Thecuboctahedronhassixsquarefacesandeighttriangularfaces,fourteen
facestotal.ItisanArchimedeansolid,whichisathreedimensionalshape.Itisnta
Platonicsolid,aregularthreedimensionalshape,becausethecuboctahedronsfaces
arentallsimilar.Itwasshownhowtofindthesurfaceareaofthecuboctahedronby
findingtheareasofthesixsquarefacesandtheeighttriangularfacesandaddingthe

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face'sareastogether.It'spossibletofindthevolumeofthecuboctahedronmorethan
threeways.Firstwayshownistoturnthecuboctahedronintoacubebyaddingeight
pyramidstothetriangularfaces,findthevolumeofthatcube,thensubtractthevolume
oftheaddedpyramidsmultipliedbyeightfromthevolumeofthecube.Secondway
shownistocutthecuboctahedronintoasquareprismandfourrectangularpyramids
andfindthevolumeofeachshapeseparatelyandthenaddthemalltogether.Thirdway
shownistocutthecuboctahedronintosixsquarepyramidsandeighttetrahedron'sand
findthevolumeofonepyramidandmultiplyitbysix,thenfindthevolumeofone
tetrahedronandmultiplyitbyeight,andfinallyaddtheproductofbothtogether.Thisis
theamazing,peaceful(despitewhatIsabelsays),andhighlyinterestingcuboctahedron.
SuperspecialthankstoParkerAuthier,NathanColes,YusufKhatri,EricChan,Mr.
Acre,andEricGorskiforreallyhelpingmeoutintoughspots.

Sources
hexnet,.2013.Photograph.HexnetWeb.4Mar2014.
<
http://hexnet.org/content/cuboctahedron
>.
Acre,Scot.
visualsforproject
.N.d.Photograph.QuickofficeWeb.4Mar2014.
<chromeextension://bpmcpldpdmajfigpchkicefoigmkfalc/views/app.html>.

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Morris,Vernon.
TriangleFormulas
.N.d.Photograph.MathWarehouseWeb.4Mar
2014.<
http://www.mathwarehouse.com/geometry/triangles/triangleformulas.php
>.