Dodecahedron

Pyritohedron
(See here for a rotating model.)
Face polygon	isosceles pentagon
Coxeter diagrams
Faces	12
Edges	30 (6 + 24)
Vertices	20 (8 + 12)
Symmetry group	Th, [4,3+], (3*2), order 24
Rotation group	T, [3,3]+, (332), order 12
Dual polyhedron	Pseudoicosahedron
Properties	face transitive
Net

A pyritohedron is a dodecahedron with pyritohedral (T_h) symmetry. Like the regular dodecahedron, it has twelve identical pentagonal faces, with three meeting in each of the 20 vertices (see figure).[3] However, the pentagons are not constrained to be regular, and the underlying atomic arrangement has no true fivefold symmetry axis. Its 30 edges are divided into two sets – containing 24 and 6 edges of the same length. The only axes of rotational symmetry are three mutually perpendicular twofold axes and four threefold axes.

Although regular dodecahedra do not exist in crystals, the pyritohedron form occurs in the crystals of the mineral pyrite, and it may be an inspiration for the discovery of the regular Platonic solid form. The true regular dodecahedron can occur as a shape for quasicrystals (such as holmium–magnesium–zinc quasicrystal) with icosahedral symmetry, which includes true fivefold rotation axes.

Dual positions in pyrite crystal models

The name crystal pyrite comes from one of the two common crystal habits shown by pyrite (the other one being the cube). In pyritohedral pyrite, the faces have a Miller index of (210), which means that the dihedral angle is 2·arctan(2) ≈ 126.87° and each pentagonal face has one angle of approximately 121.6° in between two angles of approximately 106.6° and opposite two angles of approximately 102.6°. The following formulas show the measurements for the face of a perfect crystal (which is rarely found in nature).

${\displaystyle {\text{Height}}={\frac {\sqrt {5}}{2}}\cdot {\text{Long side}}}$

${\displaystyle {\text{Width}}={\frac {4}{3}}\cdot {\text{Long side}}}$

${\displaystyle {\text{Short sides}}={\sqrt {\frac {7}{12}}}\cdot {\text{Long side}}}$

Natural pyrite (with face angles on the right)

The eight vertices of a cube have the coordinates (±1, ±1, ±1).

The coordinates of the 12 additional vertices are (0, ±(1 + h), ±(1 − h²)), (±(1 + h), ±(1 − h²), 0) and (±(1 − h²), 0, ±(1 + h)).

h is the height of the wedge-shaped "roof" above the faces of that cube with edge length 2.

An important case is h = 1/2 (a quarter of the cube edge length) for perfect natural pyrite (also the pyritohedron in the Weaire–Phelan structure).

Another one is h = 1/φ = 0.618... for the regular dodecahedron. See section Geometric freedom for other cases.

Two pyritohedra with swapped nonzero coordinates are in dual positions to each other like the dodecahedra in the compound of two dodecahedra.

Orthographic projections of the pyritohedron with h = 1/2

Heights 1/2 and 1/φ

Animations
Honeycomb of alternating convex and concave pyritohedra with heights between ±1/φ	Heights between 0 (cube) and 1 (rhombic dodecahedron)

The pyritohedron has a geometric degree of freedom with limiting cases of a cubic convex hull at one limit of collinear edges, and a rhombic dodecahedron as the other limit as 6 edges are degenerated to length zero. The regular dodecahedron represents a special intermediate case where all edges and angles are equal.

It is possible to go past these limiting cases, creating concave or nonconvex pyritohedra. The endo-dodecahedron is concave and equilateral; it can tessellate space with the convex regular dodecahedron. Continuing from there in that direction, we pass through a degenerate case where twelve vertices coincide in the centre, and on to the regular great stellated dodecahedron where all edges and angles are equal again, and the faces have been distorted into regular pentagrams. On the other side, past the rhombic dodecahedron, we get a nonconvex equilateral dodecahedron with fish-shaped self-intersecting equilateral pentagonal faces.

Special cases of the pyritohedron
Versions with equal absolute values and opposing signs form a honeycomb together. (Compare this animation.) The ratio shown is that of edge lengths, namely those in a set of 24 (touching cube vertices) to those in a set of 6 (corresponding to cube faces).
Ratio	1 : 1	0 : 1	1 : 1	2 : 1	1 : 1	0 : 1	1 : 1
h	−√5 + 1/2	−1	−√5 + 1/2	0	√5 − 1/2	1	√5 + 1/2
	−1.618...		−0.618...		0.618...		1.618...
Image	Regular star, great stellated dodecahedron, with regular pentagram faces	Degenerate, 12 vertices in the center	The concave equilateral dodecahedron, called an endo-dodecahedron.	A cube can be divided into a pyritohedron by bisecting all the edges, and faces in alternate directions.	A regular dodecahedron is an intermediate case with equal edge lengths.	A rhombic dodecahedron is a degenerate case with the 6 crossedges reduced to length zero.	Self-intersecting equilateral dodecahedron

Tetartoid Tetragonal pentagonal dodecahedron
(See here for a rotating model.)
Face polygon	irregular pentagon
Conway notation	gT
Faces	12
Edges	30 (6+12+12)
Vertices	20 (4+4+12)
Symmetry group	T, [3,3]+, (332), order 12
Properties	convex, face transitive

A tetartoid (also tetragonal pentagonal dodecahedron, pentagon-tritetrahedron, and tetrahedric pentagon dodecahedron) is a dodecahedron with chiral tetrahedral symmetry (T). Like the regular dodecahedron, it has twelve identical pentagonal faces, with three meeting in each of the 20 vertices. However, the pentagons are not regular and the figure has no fivefold symmetry axes.

Although regular dodecahedra do not exist in crystals, the tetartoid form does. The name tetartoid comes from the Greek root for one-fourth because it has one fourth of full octahedral symmetry, and half of pyritohedral symmetry.[4] The mineral cobaltite can have this symmetry form.[5]

Abstractions sharing the solid's topology and symmetry can be created from the cube and the tetrahedron. In the cube each face is bisected by a slanted edge. In the tetrahedron each edge is trisected, and each of the new vertices connected to a face center. (In Conway polyhedron notation this is a gyro tetrahedron.)

Orthographic projections from 2- and 3-fold axes

Cubic and tetrahedral form

Cobaltite

Relationship to the dyakis dodecahedron

A tetartoid can be created by enlarging 12 of the 24 faces of a dyakis dodecahedron. (The tetartoid shown here is based on one that is itself created by enlarging 24 of the 48 faces of the disdyakis dodecahedron.) Chiral tetartoids based on the dyakis dodecahedron in the middle Crystal model The crystal model on the right shows a tetartoid created by enlarging the blue faces of the dyakis dodecahedral core. Therefore, the edges between the blue faces are covered by the red skeleton edges.

The following points are vertices of a tetartoid pentagon under tetrahedral symmetry:

(a, b, c); (−a, −b, c); (−n/d₁, −n/d₁, n/d₁); (−c, −a, b); (−n/d₂, n/d₂, n/d₂),

under the following conditions:[6]

0 ≤ a ≤ b ≤ c,

n = a²c − bc²,

d₁ = a² − ab + b² + ac − 2bc,

d₂ = a² + ab + b² − ac − 2bc,

nd₁d₂ ≠ 0.

The regular dodecahedron is a tetartoid with more than the required symmetry. The triakis tetrahedron is a degenerate case with 12 zero-length edges. (In terms of the colors used above this means, that the white vertices and green edges are absorbed by the green vertices.)

Tetartoid variations from regular dodecahedron to triakis tetrahedron

A lower symmetry form of the regular dodecahedron can be constructed as the dual of a polyhedron constructed from two triangular anticupola connected base-to-base, called a triangular gyrobianticupola. It has D_3d symmetry, order 12. It has 2 sets of 3 identical pentagons on the top and bottom, connected 6 pentagons around the sides which alternate upwards and downwards. This form has a hexagonal cross-section and identical copies can be connected as a partial hexagonal honeycomb, but all vertices will not match.