Cupola (geometry)

Summary

In geometry, a cupola is a solid formed by joining two polygons, one (the base) with twice as many edges as the other, by an alternating band of isosceles triangles and rectangles. If the triangles are equilateral and the rectangles are squares, while the base and its opposite face are regular polygons, the triangular, square, and pentagonal cupolae all count among the Johnson solids, and can be formed by taking sections of the cuboctahedron, rhombicuboctahedron, and rhombicosidodecahedron, respectively.

Set of cupolae
Pentagonal example
Facesn triangles,
n squares,
1 n-gon,
1 2n-gon
Edges5n
Vertices3n
Schläfli symbol{n} || t{n}
Symmetry groupCnv, [1,n], (*nn), order 2n
Rotation groupCn, [1,n]+, (nn), order n
Dual polyhedron?
Propertiesconvex, prismatoid

A cupola can be seen as a prism where one of the polygons has been collapsed in half by merging alternate vertices.

A cupola can be given an extended Schläfli symbol {n} || t{n}, representing a regular polygon {n} joined by a parallel of its truncation, t{n} or {2n}.

Cupolae are a subclass of the prismatoids.

Its dual contains a shape that is sort of a weld between half of an n-sided trapezohedron and a 2n-sided pyramid.

Examples edit

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  • t
  • e
  • n 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
    Schläfli symbol {2} || t{2} {3} || t{3} {4} || t{4} {5} || t{5} {6} || t{6} {7} || t{7} {8} || t{8}
    Cupola  
    Digonal cupola
     
    Triangular cupola
     
    Square cupola
     
    Pentagonal cupola
     
    Hexagonal cupola
    (Flat)
     
    Heptagonal cupola
    (Non-regular face)
     
    Octagonal cupola
    (Non-regular face)
    Related
    uniform
    polyhedra
    Rhombohedron
         
    Cuboctahedron
         
    Rhombicuboctahedron
         
    Rhombicosidodecahedron
         
    Rhombitrihexagonal tiling
         
    Rhombitriheptagonal tiling
         
    Rhombitrioctagonal tiling
         
     
    Plane "hexagonal cupolae" in the rhombitrihexagonal tiling

    The above-mentioned three polyhedra are the only non-trivial convex cupolae with regular faces: The "hexagonal cupola" is a plane figure, and the triangular prism might be considered a "cupola" of degree 2 (the cupola of a line segment and a square). However, cupolae of higher-degree polygons may be constructed with irregular triangular and rectangular faces.

    Coordinates of the vertices edit

     
    A 40-sided cupola has:
      40 rectangles;
      A top regular 40-gon;
    and a bottom regular 80-gon (hidden).

    The definition of the cupola does not require the base (or the side opposite the base, which can be called the top) to be a regular polygon, but it is convenient to consider the case where the cupola has its maximal symmetry, Cnv. In that case, the top is a regular n-gon, while the base is either a regular 2n-gon or a 2n-gon which has two different side lengths alternating and the same angles as a regular 2n-gon. It is convenient to fix the coordinate system so that the base lies in the xy-plane, with the top in a plane parallel to the xy-plane. The z-axis is the n-fold axis, and the mirror planes pass through the z-axis and bisect the sides of the base. They also either bisect the sides or the angles of the top polygon, or both. (If n is even, half of the mirror planes bisect the sides of the top polygon and half bisect the angles, while if n is odd, each mirror plane bisects one side and one angle of the top polygon.) The vertices of the base can be designated   through   while the vertices of the top polygon can be designated   through   With these conventions, the coordinates of the vertices can be written as:

     

    for j = 1, 2, ..., n.

    Since the polygons   etc. are rectangles, this puts a constraint on the values of   The distance   is equal to

     

    while the distance   is equal to

     

    These are to be equal, and if this common edge is denoted by s,

     

    These values are to be inserted into the expressions for the coordinates of the vertices given earlier.

    Star-cupolae edit

    {n/d} 4 5 7 8
    3  
    {4/3}
    Crossed square
    cupola
     
    {5/3}
    Crossed pentragrammic
    cupola
     
    {7/3}
    Heptagrammic
    cupola
     
    {8/3}
    Octagrammic
    cupola
    5  
    {7/5}
    Crossed heptagrammic
    cupola
     
    {8/5}
    Crossed octogrammic
    cupola
    nd 3 5 7
    2  
    {3/2}
    Crossed triangular
    cuploid
     
    {5/2}
    Pentagrammic
    cuploid
     
    {7/2}
    Heptagrammic
    cuploid
    4  
    {5/4}
    Crossed pentagonal
    cuploid
     
    {7/4}
    Crossed heptagrammic
    cuploid

    Star cupolae exist for all bases {n/d} where 6/5 < n/d < 6 and d is odd. At the limits the cupolae collapse into plane figures: beyond the limits the triangles and squares can no longer span the distance between the two polygons (it can still be made if the triangles or squares are irregular.). When d is even, the bottom base {2n/d} becomes degenerate: we can form a cupoloid or semicupola by withdrawing this degenerate face and instead letting the triangles and squares connect to each other here. In particular, the tetrahemihexahedron may be seen as a {3/2}-cupoloid. The cupolae are all orientable, while the cupoloids are all nonorientable. When n/d > 2 in a cupoloid, the triangles and squares do not cover the entire base, and a small membrane is left in the base that simply covers empty space. Hence the {5/2} and {7/2} cupoloids pictured above have membranes (not filled in), while the {5/4} and {7/4} cupoloids pictured above do not.

    The height h of an {n/d}-cupola or cupoloid is given by the formula

     
    In particular, h = 0 at the limits of n/d = 6 and n/d = 6/5, and h is maximized at n/d = 2 (the triangular prism, where the triangles are upright).[1][2]

    In the images above, the star cupolae have been given a consistent colour scheme to aid identifying their faces: the base {n/d}-gon is red, the base {2n/d}-gon is yellow, the squares are blue, and the triangles are green. The cupoloids have the base {n/d}-gon red, the squares yellow, and the triangles blue, as the other base has been withdrawn.

    Hypercupolae edit

    The hypercupolae or polyhedral cupolae are a family of convex nonuniform polychora (here four-dimensional figures), analogous to the cupolas. Each one's bases are a Platonic solid and its expansion.[3]

    Name Tetrahedral cupola Cubic cupola Octahedral cupola Dodecahedral cupola Hexagonal tiling cupola
    Schläfli symbol {3,3} || rr{3,3} {4,3} || rr{4,3} {3,4} || rr{3,4} {5,3} || rr{5,3} {6,3} || rr{6,3}
    Segmentochora
    index[3]
    K4.23 K4.71 K4.107 K4.152
    circumradius        
    Image        
    Cap cells               
    Vertices 16 32 30 80
    Edges 42 84 84 210
    Faces 42 24 triangles
    18 squares
    80 32 triangles
    48 squares
    82 40 triangles
    42 squares
    194 80 triangles
    90 squares
    24 pentagons
    Cells 16 1 tetrahedron
    4 triangular prisms
    6 triangular prisms
    4 triangular pyramids
    1 cuboctahedron
    28  1 cube
     6 square prisms
    12 triangular prisms
     8 triangular pyramids
     1 rhombicuboctahedron
    28  1 octahedron
     8 triangular prisms
    12 triangular prisms
     6 square pyramids
     1 rhombicuboctahedron
    64  1 dodecahedron
    12 pentagonal prisms
    30 triangular prisms
    20 triangular pyramids
     1 rhombicosidodecahedron
    1 hexagonal tiling
    ∞ hexagonal prisms
    ∞ triangular prisms
    ∞ triangular pyramids
    1 rhombitrihexagonal tiling
    Related
    uniform
    polychora
    runcinated 5-cell
           
    runcinated tesseract
           
    runcinated 24-cell
           
    runcinated 120-cell
           
    runcinated hexagonal tiling honeycomb
           

    See also edit

    References edit

    1. ^ "cupolas". www.orchidpalms.com. Retrieved 21 April 2018.
    2. ^ "semicupolas". www.orchidpalms.com. Retrieved 21 April 2018.
    3. ^ a b Convex Segmentochora Dr. Richard Klitzing, Symmetry: Culture and Science, Vol. 11, Nos. 1-4, 139-181, 2000
    • Johnson, N.W. Convex Polyhedra with Regular Faces. Can. J. Math. 18, 169–200, 1966.

    External links edit