In
geometry
Geometry (; ) is a branch of mathematics concerned with properties of space such as the distance, shape, size, and relative position of figures. Geometry is, along with arithmetic, one of the oldest branches of mathematics. A mathematician w ...
, a Johnson solid, sometimes also known as a Johnson–Zalgaller solid,
is a
convex polyhedron whose faces are
regular polygon
In Euclidean geometry, a regular polygon is a polygon that is Equiangular polygon, direct equiangular (all angles are equal in measure) and Equilateral polygon, equilateral (all sides have the same length). Regular polygons may be either ''convex ...
s. They are sometimes defined to exclude the
uniform polyhedrons. There are ninety-two
solids with such a property: the first solids are the
pyramid
A pyramid () is a structure whose visible surfaces are triangular in broad outline and converge toward the top, making the appearance roughly a pyramid in the geometric sense. The base of a pyramid can be of any polygon shape, such as trian ...
s,
cupola
In architecture, a cupola () is a relatively small, usually dome-like structure on top of a building often crowning a larger roof or dome. Cupolas often serve as a roof lantern to admit light and air or as a lookout.
The word derives, via Ital ...
s, and a
rotunda; some of the solids may be constructed by attaching with those previous solids, whereas others may not.
Definition and background
A Johnson solid is a
convex polyhedron whose faces are all
regular polygon
In Euclidean geometry, a regular polygon is a polygon that is Equiangular polygon, direct equiangular (all angles are equal in measure) and Equilateral polygon, equilateral (all sides have the same length). Regular polygons may be either ''convex ...
s. The convex polyhedron means as bounded intersections of finitely many
half-spaces, or as the
convex hull of finitely many points. Although there is no restriction that any given regular polygon cannot be a face of a Johnson solid, some authors required that Johnson solids are not
uniform
A uniform is a variety of costume worn by members of an organization while usually participating in that organization's activity. Modern uniforms are most often worn by armed forces and paramilitary organizations such as police, emergency serv ...
. This means that a Johnson solid is not a
Platonic solid
In geometry, a Platonic solid is a Convex polytope, convex, regular polyhedron in three-dimensional space, three-dimensional Euclidean space. Being a regular polyhedron means that the face (geometry), faces are congruence (geometry), congruent (id ...
,
Archimedean solid
The Archimedean solids are a set of thirteen convex polyhedra whose faces are regular polygon and are vertex-transitive, although they aren't face-transitive. The solids were named after Archimedes, although he did not claim credit for them. They ...
,
prism, or
antiprism. A convex polyhedron in which all faces are nearly regular, but some are not precisely regular, is known as a
near-miss Johnson solid
In geometry, a near-miss Johnson solid is a strictly convex set, convex polyhedron whose face (geometry), faces are close to being regular polygons but some or all of which are not precisely regular. Thus, it fails to meet the definition of a John ...
.
The solids were named after the mathematicians
Norman Johnson and
Victor Zalgaller. published a list including ninety-two solids—excluding the five Platonic solids, the thirteen Archimedean solids, the infinitely many uniform prisms, and the infinitely many uniform antiprisms—and gave them their names and numbers. He did not prove that there were only ninety-two, but he did conjecture that there were no others. proved that Johnson's list was complete.
Naming and enumeration
The naming of Johnson solids follows a flexible and precise descriptive formula that allows many solids to be named in multiple different ways without compromising the accuracy of each name as a description. Most Johnson solids can be constructed from the first few solids (
pyramids,
cupolae, and a
rotunda), together with the
Platonic and
Archimedean solids,
prisms, and
antiprisms; the center of a particular solid's name will reflect these ingredients. From there, a series of prefixes are attached to the word to indicate additions, rotations, and transformations:
* ''Bi-'' indicates that two copies of the solid are joined base-to-base. For cupolae and rotundas, the solids can be joined so that either like faces (''ortho-'') or unlike faces (''gyro-'') meet. Using this nomenclature, a
pentagonal bipyramid is a solid constructed by attaching two bases of pentagonal pyramids.
Triangular orthobicupola is constructed by two triangular cupolas along their bases.
* ''Elongated'' indicates a
prism is joined to the base of the solid, or between the bases; ''gyroelongated'' indicates an
antiprism. ''Augmented'' indicates another polyhedron, namely a
pyramid
A pyramid () is a structure whose visible surfaces are triangular in broad outline and converge toward the top, making the appearance roughly a pyramid in the geometric sense. The base of a pyramid can be of any polygon shape, such as trian ...
or
cupola
In architecture, a cupola () is a relatively small, usually dome-like structure on top of a building often crowning a larger roof or dome. Cupolas often serve as a roof lantern to admit light and air or as a lookout.
The word derives, via Ital ...
, is joined to one or more faces of the solid in question.
*''Diminished'' indicates a pyramid or cupola is removed from one or more faces of the solid in question.
*''
Gyrate'' indicates a cupola mounted on or featured in the solid in question is rotated such that different edges match up, as in the difference between ortho- and gyrobicupolae.
The last three operations—''augmentation'', ''diminution'', and ''gyration''—can be performed multiple times for certain large solids. ''Bi-'' & ''Tri-'' indicate a double and triple operation respectively. For example, a ''bigyrate'' solid has two rotated cupolae, and a ''tridiminished'' solid has three removed pyramids or cupolae. In certain large solids, a distinction is made between solids where altered faces are parallel and solids where altered faces are oblique. ''Para-'' indicates the former, that the solid in question has altered parallel faces, and ''meta-'' the latter, altered oblique faces. For example, a ''parabiaugmented'' solid has had two parallel faces augmented, and a ''metabigyrate'' solid has had two oblique faces gyrated.
The last few Johnson solids have names based on certain polygon complexes from which they are assembled. These names are defined by Johnson with the following nomenclature:
*A ''lune'' is a complex of two triangles attached to opposite sides of a square.
*''Spheno''- indicates a wedgelike complex formed by two adjacent lunes. ''Dispheno-'' indicates two such complexes.
*''Hebespheno''- indicates a blunt complex of two lunes separated by a third lune.
*''Corona'' is a crownlike complex of eight triangles.
*''Megacorona'' is a larger crownlike complex of twelve triangles.
*The suffix -''cingulum'' indicates a belt of twelve triangles.
The enumeration of Johnson solids may be denoted as
, where
denoted the list's enumeration (an example is
denoted the first Johnson solid, the equilateral square pyramid). The following is the list of ninety-two Johnson solids, with the enumeration followed according to the list of :
Some of the Johnson solids may be categorized as
elementary polyhedra. This means the polyhedron cannot be separated by a plane to create two small convex polyhedra with regular faces; examples of Johnson solids are the first six Johnson solids—
square pyramid
In geometry, a square pyramid is a Pyramid (geometry), pyramid with a square base and four triangles, having a total of five faces. If the Apex (geometry), apex of the pyramid is directly above the center of the square, it is a ''right square p ...
,
pentagonal pyramid,
triangular cupola,
square cupola,
pentagonal cupola, and
pentagonal rotunda—
tridiminished icosahedron,
parabidiminished rhombicosidodecahedron,
tridiminished rhombicosidodecahedron,
snub disphenoid,
snub square antiprism,
sphenocorona,
sphenomegacorona,
hebesphenomegacorona,
disphenocingulum,
bilunabirotunda, and
triangular hebesphenorotunda. The other Johnson solids are
composite polyhedron because they are constructed by attaching some elementary polyhedra.
Properties
As the definition above, a Johnson solid is a convex polyhedron with regular polygons as their faces. However, there are several properties possessed by each of them.
* All but five of the 92 Johnson solids are known to have the
Rupert property, meaning that it is possible for a larger copy of themselves to pass through a hole inside of them. The five which are not known to have this property are:
gyrate rhombicosidodecahedron,
parabigyrate rhombicosidodecahedron,
metabigyrate rhombicosidodecahedron,
trigyrate rhombicosidodecahedron, and
paragyrate diminished rhombicosidodecahedron.
* From all of the Johnson solids, the
elongated square gyrobicupola (also called the pseudorhombicuboctahedron) is unique in being locally vertex-uniform: there are four faces at each vertex, and their arrangement is always the same: three squares and one triangle. However, it is not
vertex-transitive, as it has different isometry at different vertices, making it a Johnson solid rather than an
Archimedean solid
The Archimedean solids are a set of thirteen convex polyhedra whose faces are regular polygon and are vertex-transitive, although they aren't face-transitive. The solids were named after Archimedes, although he did not claim credit for them. They ...
.
See also
*
List of Johnson solids
*
Near-miss Johnson solid
In geometry, a near-miss Johnson solid is a strictly convex set, convex polyhedron whose face (geometry), faces are close to being regular polygons but some or all of which are not precisely regular. Thus, it fails to meet the definition of a John ...
*
Blind polytope
References
External links
*
Paper Models of Polyhedra Many links
by George W. Hart.
*
by Jim McNeill
VRML models of Johnson Solidsby Vladimir Bulatov
CRF polychora discovery projectattempts to discove
CRF polychora (''C''onvex 4-dimensional polytopes with ''R''egular polygons as 2-dimensional ''F''aces), a generalization of the Johnson solids to 4-dimensional space
*https://levskaya.github.io/polyhedronisme/ a generator of polyhedrons and
Conway operations applied to them, including Johnson solids.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson Solid
*