
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 ...
, the elongated triangular pyramid is one of the
Johnson solid
In geometry, a Johnson solid, sometimes also known as a Johnson–Zalgaller solid, is a convex polyhedron whose faces are regular polygons. They are sometimes defined to exclude the uniform polyhedrons. There are ninety-two Solid geometry, s ...
s (). As the name suggests, it can be constructed by elongating a
tetrahedron
In geometry, a tetrahedron (: tetrahedra or tetrahedrons), also known as a triangular pyramid, is a polyhedron composed of four triangular Face (geometry), faces, six straight Edge (geometry), edges, and four vertex (geometry), vertices. The tet ...
by attaching a
triangular prism
In geometry, a triangular prism or trigonal prism is a Prism (geometry), prism with 2 triangular bases. If the edges pair with each triangle's vertex and if they are perpendicular to the base, it is a ''right triangular prism''. A right triangul ...
to its base. Like any elongated
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 ...
, the resulting solid is topologically (but not geometrically) self-
dual.
Construction
The elongated triangular pyramid is constructed from a
triangular prism
In geometry, a triangular prism or trigonal prism is a Prism (geometry), prism with 2 triangular bases. If the edges pair with each triangle's vertex and if they are perpendicular to the base, it is a ''right triangular prism''. A right triangul ...
by attaching
regular tetrahedron
In geometry, a tetrahedron (: tetrahedra or tetrahedrons), also known as a triangular pyramid, is a polyhedron composed of four triangular Face (geometry), faces, six straight Edge (geometry), edges, and four vertex (geometry), vertices. The tet ...
onto one of its bases, a process known as
elongation. The tetrahedron covers an
equilateral triangle
An equilateral triangle is a triangle in which all three sides have the same length, and all three angles are equal. Because of these properties, the equilateral triangle is a regular polygon, occasionally known as the regular triangle. It is the ...
, replacing it with three other equilateral triangles, so that the resulting polyhedron has four equilateral triangles and three
square
In geometry, a square is a regular polygon, regular quadrilateral. It has four straight sides of equal length and four equal angles. Squares are special cases of rectangles, which have four equal angles, and of rhombuses, which have four equal si ...
s as its faces. A convex polyhedron in which all of the 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 is called the
Johnson solid
In geometry, a Johnson solid, sometimes also known as a Johnson–Zalgaller solid, is a convex polyhedron whose faces are regular polygons. They are sometimes defined to exclude the uniform polyhedrons. There are ninety-two Solid geometry, s ...
, and the elongated triangular pyramid is among them, enumerated as the seventh Johnson solid
.
Properties
An elongated triangular pyramid with edge length
has a height, by adding the height of a regular tetrahedron and a triangular prism:
Its surface area can be calculated by adding the area of all eight equilateral triangles and three squares:
and its volume can be calculated by slicing it into a regular tetrahedron and a prism, adding their volume up::
It has the
three-dimensional symmetry group, the cyclic group
of order 6. Its
dihedral angle can be calculated by adding the angle of the tetrahedron and the triangular prism:
* the dihedral angle of a tetrahedron between two adjacent triangular faces is
;
* the dihedral angle of the triangular prism between the square to its bases is
, and the dihedral angle between square-to-triangle, on the edge where tetrahedron and triangular prism are attached, is
;
* the dihedral angle of the triangular prism between two adjacent square faces is the internal angle of an equilateral triangle
.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Elongated Triangular Pyramid
Johnson solids
Self-dual polyhedra
Pyramids (geometry)