Archimedean, << `ahr` kuh MEE dee uhn, >> solid is any of 13 solid figures. These figures were first described by the ancient Greek mathematician Archimedes.
Archimedean solids are semiregular convex polyhedrons (see Polyhedron ). The faces (surfaces) of any Archimedean solid represent more than one kind of regular polygon. However, all the polyhedral angles are identical. A polyhedral angle is a figure formed at a vertex (point) where three or more faces meet.
One example of an Archimedean solid is the truncated cube. This figure is formed when each corner of a cube is truncated (cut off) at the same angle. An equilateral triangle then replaces each corner and an octagon replaces each square face of the cube. Thus, a truncated cube has six faces that are octagons, and eight faces that are equilateral triangles. Each vertex is the corner of one triangle and two octagons.
