Antiprism

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Set of uniform antiprisms
Type	uniform polyhedron
Faces	2 p-gons, 2p triangles
Edges	4p
Vertices	2p
Vertex configuration	3.3.3.p
Schläfli symbol	s{2,p}
Coxeter-Dynkin diagram	-	Symmetry group	Dpd
Dual polyhedron	trapezohedron
Properties	convex, semi-regular vertex-transitive
Net

An n-sided antiprism is a polyhedron composed of two parallel copies of some particular n-sided polygon, connected by an alternating band of triangles.

Antiprisms are a subclass of the prismatoids.

Antiprisms are similar to prisms except the bases are twisted relative to each other, and that the side faces are triangles, rather than quadrilaterials: the vertices are symmetrically staggered.

In the case of a regular n-sided base, one usually considers the case where its copy is twisted by an angle 180°/n. Extra regularity is obtained by the line connecting the base centers being perpendicular to the base planes, making it a right antiprism. It has, apart from the base faces, 2n isosceles triangles as faces.

A uniform antiprism has, apart from the base faces, 2n equilateral triangles as faces. They form an infinite series of vertex-uniform polyhedra, as do the uniform prisms. For n=2 we have as degenerate case the regular tetrahedron, and for n=3 the non-degenerate regular octahedron.

The dual polyhedra of the antiprisms are the trapezohedra. Their existence was first discussed and their name was coined by Johannes Kepler.

Cartesian coordinates

Cartesian coordinates for the vertices of a right antiprism with n-gonal bases and isosceles triangles are

$(cos(kpi/n),\; sin(kpi/n),\; (-1)^k\; a\; );$

with k ranging from 0 to 2n-1; if the triangles are equilateral,

$2a^2=cos(pi/n)-cos(2pi/n);$.

Symmetry

The symmetry group of a right n-sided antiprism with regular base and isosceles side faces is D_nd of order 4n, except in the case of a tetrahedron, which has the larger symmetry group T_d of order 24, which has three versions of D_2d as subgroups, and the octahedron, which has the larger symmetry group O_h of order 48, which has four versions of D_3d as subgroups.

The symmetry group contains inversion if and only if n is odd.

The rotation group is D_n of order 2n, except in the case of a tetrahedron, which has the larger rotation group T of order 12, which has three versions of D₂ as subgroups, and the octahedron, which has the larger rotation group O of order 24, which has four versions of D₃ as subgroups.

See also

• Prismatic uniform polyhedron
• Apeirogonal antiprism

External links

Nonconvex Prisms and Antiprisms

Paper models of prisms and antiprisms

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Last updated on Friday July 04, 2008 at 13:22:33 PDT (GMT -0700)
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