The Yoshimoto Cube is a
polyhedral mechanical
puzzle
A puzzle is a game, Problem solving, problem, or toy that tests a person's ingenuity or knowledge. In a puzzle, the solver is expected to put pieces together (Disentanglement puzzle, or take them apart) in a logical way, in order to arrive at th ...
toy
A toy or plaything is an object that is used primarily to provide entertainment. Simple examples include toy blocks, board games, and dolls. Toys are often designed for use by children, although many are designed specifically for adults and pet ...
invented in 1971 by , who discovered that two
stellated rhombic dodecahedra could be pieced together into a
cube
In geometry, a cube is a three-dimensional solid object bounded by six square faces, facets or sides, with three meeting at each vertex. Viewed from a corner it is a hexagon and its net is usually depicted as a cross.
The cube is the only r ...
when he was finding different ways he could split a cube equally in half. Yoshimoto first introduced his cube in 1972 at a solo exhibition entitled "From Cube to Space", and later developed three commercial versions. In 1982, Yoshimoto Cube No. 1 was included in the
Museum of Modern Art
The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues.
It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of ...
's permanent collection.
The cube is made up of eight interconnected cubes which can be folded or unfolded indefinitely. The unfolded cube can be
dissected
Dissection (from Latin ' "to cut to pieces"; also called anatomization) is the dismembering of the body of a deceased animal or plant to study its anatomical structure. Autopsy is used in pathology and forensic medicine to determine the cause ...
and reassembled into two
stellated rhombic dodecahedra, each of which comprise half the
volume
Volume is a measure of occupied three-dimensional space. It is often quantified numerically using SI derived units (such as the cubic metre and litre) or by various imperial or US customary units (such as the gallon, quart, cubic inch). The de ...
of the original cube, making it a kind of
three-dimensional
Three-dimensional space (also: 3D space, 3-space or, rarely, tri-dimensional space) is a geometric setting in which three values (called ''parameters'') are required to determine the position of an element (i.e., point). This is the informal ...
dissection puzzle
A dissection puzzle, also called a transformation puzzle or ''Richter Puzzle'', is a tiling puzzle where a set of pieces can be assembled in different ways to produce two or more distinct geometric shapes. The creation of new dissection puzzles ...
.
Three flattened octahedra compound.png, stellated rhombic dodecahedron
In geometry, the first stellation of the rhombic dodecahedron is a self-intersecting polyhedron with 12 faces, each of which is a non-convex hexagon.
It is a stellation of the rhombic dodecahedron and has the same outer shell and the same visual ...
Partial_cubic_honeycomb.png, 2×2×2 cube form of Yoshimoto Cube
first_rhombic_dodecahedron_stellation.stl, STL model of the first stellation of the rhombic dodecahedron decomposed into pyramids and half-cubes
See also
*
Rubik's Cube
The Rubik's Cube is a Three-dimensional space, 3-D combination puzzle originally invented in 1974 by Hungarians, Hungarian sculptor and professor of architecture Ernő Rubik. Originally called the Magic Cube, the puzzle was licensed by Rubik t ...
*
''n''-dimensional sequential move puzzles
References
External links
Geometric Toys*
Mechanical puzzle cubes
Educational toys
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