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Johnson Solid




In Geometry , a Johnson solid is a Convex Polyhedron , each face of which is a Regular Polygon , which is not a Platonic Solid , Archimedean Solid , Prism , or Antiprism . There is no requirement that each face must be the same polygon. An example of a Johnson solid is the square-based Pyramid with Equilateral sides ( ''J''1 ); it has one square face and four triangular faces.

As in any strictly convex solid, at least three faces meet at every vertex, and the total of their angles is less than 360 degrees. Since a regular polygon has angles at least 60 degrees, it follows that at most five faces meet at any vertex. The Pentagonal Pyramid (''J''2) is an example that actually has a degree-5 vertex.

Although there is no obvious restriction on any regular polygon's being a face of a Johnson solid, it turns out that the faces of Johnson solids always have 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, or 10 sides.

In 1966 , Norman Johnson published a list which included all 92 solids, and gave them their names and numbers. He did not prove that there were only 92, but he did conjecture that there were no others. Victor Zalgaller in 1969 proved that Johnson's list was complete.

Of the Johnson solids, the Elongated Square Gyrobicupola (''J''37) is unique in being vertex-uniform: there are four faces at each vertex, and their arrangement is always the same: three squares and one triangle.


NAMES

The names are listed below and are more descriptive than they sound. Most of the Johnson solids can be constructed from the first few ( Pyramids , Cupola e, and Rotunda e), together with the Platonic and Archimedean solids, Prism s, and Antiprism s.

  • ''Bi-'' means that two copies of the solid in question are joined base-to-base. For cupolae and rotundae, they can be joined so that like faces (''ortho-'') or unlike faces (''gyro-'') meet. In this nomenclature, an Octahedron would be a ''square bipyramid'', a Cuboctahedron would be a ''triangular gyrobicupola'', and an Icosidodecahedron would be a ''pentagonal gyrobirotunda''.

  • ''Elongated'' means that a prism has been joined to the base of the solid in question or between the bases of the solids in question. A Rhombicuboctahedron would be an ''elongated square orthobicupola''.

  • ''Gyroelongated'' means that an antiprism has been joined to the base of the solid in question or between the bases of the solids in question. An Icosahedron would be a ''gyroelongated pentagonal bipyramid''.

  • ''Augmented'' means that a pyramid or cupola has been joined to a face of the solid in question.

  • ''Diminished'' means that a pyramid or cupola has been removed from the solid in question.

  • '' Gyrate '' means that a cupola on the solid in question has been rotated so that different edges match up, as in the difference between ortho- and gyrobicupolae.


The last three operations — augmentation, diminution, and gyration — can be performed more than once on a large enough solid. We add ''bi-'' to the name of the operation to indicate that it has been performed twice. (A ''bigyrate'' solid has had two of its cupolae rotated.) We add ''tri-'' to indicate that it has been performed three times. (A ''tridiminished'' solid has had three of its pyramids or cupolae removed.)

Sometimes, ''bi-'' alone is not specific enough. We must distinguish between a solid that has had two parallel faces altered and one that has had two oblique faces altered. When the faces altered are parallel, we add ''para-'' to the name of the operation. (A ''parabiaugmented'' solid has had two parallel faces augmented.) When they are not, we add ''meta-'' to the name of the operation. (A ''metabiaugmented'' solid has had two oblique faces augmented.)


NAMES AND JOHNSON NUMBERS


J1 - J12



J13 - J24



J25 - J36



J37 - J48



J49 - J59



J61 - J72



J73 - J84



J85 - J92



SEE ALSO



REFERENCES

  • Norman W. Johnson, "Convex Solids with Regular Faces", Canadian Journal of Mathematics, 18, 1966, pages 169–200. Contains the original enumeration of the 92 solids and the conjecture that there are no others.

  • Eric W. Weisstein. Johnson Solid at MathWorld .

  • 1 The first proof that there are only 92 Johnson solids.



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