# Tetrakis hexahedron

Tetrakis hexahedron

Type Catalan solid
Coxeter diagram
Conway notation kC
Face type V4.6.6

isosceles triangle
Faces 24
Edges 36
Vertices 14
Vertices by type 6{4}+8{6}
Symmetry group Oh, BC3, [4,3], (*432)
Rotation group O, [4,3]+, (432)
Dihedral angle 143° 7' 48"
$\arccos ( -\frac{4}{5} )$
Properties convex, face-transitive

Truncated octahedron
(dual polyhedron)

Net

In geometry, a tetrakis hexahedron (also known as a tetrahexahedron) is a Catalan solid. Its dual is the truncated octahedron, an Archimedean solid. It can be seen as a cube with square pyramids covering each square face; that is, it is the Kleetope of the cube.

It is very similar to the net for a Cubic pyramid, as the net for a square based is a square with triangles attached to each edge, the net for a cubic pyramid is a cube with square pyramids attached to each face.

It also can be called a disdyakis hexahedron as the dual of an omnitruncated tetrahedron.

## Orthogonal projections

The tetrakis hexahedron, dual of the truncated octahedron has five special orthogonal projections, centered, on a vertex, on two types of edges, and two types of faces: Hexagon, and square. The last two correspond to the B2 and A2 Coxeter planes.

Orthogonal projections
Centered by Vertex Edge
4-6
Edge
6-6
Face
Square
Face
Hexagon
Truncated
octahedron
Hexakis
hexahedron
Projective
symmetry
[2] [2] [2] [4] [6]

## Uses

Naturally occurring (crystal) formations of tetrahexahedra are observed in copper and fluorite systems.

Polyhedral dice shaped like the tetrakis hexahedron are occasionally used by gamers.

A 24-cell viewed under a vertex-first perspective projection has a surface topology of a tetrakis hexahedron and the geometric proportions of the rhombic dodecahedron, with the rhombic faces divided into two triangles.

## Symmetry

With Td, [3,3] (*332) tetrahedral symmetry, the triangular faces represent the 24 fundamental domains of tetrahdral symmetry. This polyhedron can be constructed from 6 great circles on a sphere.

## Dimensions

If we denote the edge length of the base cube by a, the height of each pyramid summit above the cube is a/4. The inclination of each triangular face of the pyramid versus the cube face is arctan(1/2), approximately 26.565 degrees (sequence A073000 in OEIS). One edge of the isosceles triangles has length a, the other two have length 3a/4, which follows by applying the Pythagorean theorem to height and base length. This yields an altitude of √5 a/4 in the triangle (). Its area is √5a/8, and the internal angles are arccos(2/3) (approximately 48.1897 degrees) and the complementary 180-2arccos(2/3) (approximately 83.6206 degrees).

The volume of the pyramid is a3/12; so the total volume of the six pyramids and the cube in the hexahedron is 3a3/2.

## Related polyhedra and tilings

Uniform octahedral polyhedra
Symmetry: [4,3], (*432) [4,3]+
(432)
[1+,4,3] = [3,3]
(*332)
[3+,4]
(3*2)
{4,3} t{4,3} r{4,3}
r{31,1}
t{3,4}
t{31,1}
{3,4}
{31,1}
rr{4,3}
s2{3,4}
tr{4,3} sr{4,3} h{4,3}
{3,3}
h2{4,3}
t{3,3}
s{3,4}
s{31,1}

=

=

=
=
or
=
or
=

Duals to uniform polyhedra
V43 V3.82 V(3.4)2 V4.62 V34 V3.43 V4.6.8 V34.4 V33 V3.62 V35
Dimensional family of truncated polyhedra and tilings: n.6.6
Symmetry
*n42
[n,3]
Spherical Euclidean Compact hyperbolic Paracompact
*232
[2,3]
D3h
*332
[3,3]
Td
*432
[4,3]
Oh
*532
[5,3]
Ih
*632
[6,3]
P6m
*732
[7,3]

*832
[8,3]...

*∞32
[∞,3]

Order 12 24 48 120
Truncated
figures

2.6.6

3.6.6

4.6.6

5.6.6

6.6.6

7.6.6

8.6.6

∞.6.6
Coxeter
Schläfli

t{3,2}

t{3,3}

t{3,4}

t{3,5}

t{3,6}

t{3,7}

t{3,8}

t{3,∞}
Uniform dual figures
n-kis
figures

V2.6.6

V3.6.6

V4.6.6

V5.6.6

V6.6.6

V7.6.6

V8.6.6

V∞.6.6
Coxeter

It is a polyhedra in a sequence defined by the face configuration V4.6.2n. This group is special for having all even number of edges per vertex and form bisecting planes through the polyhedra and infinite lines in the plane, and continuing into the hyperbolic plane for any $n \ge 7.$

With an even number of faces at every vertex, these polyhedra and tilings can be shown by alternating two colors so all adjacent faces have different colors.

Each face on these domains also corresponds to the fundamental domain of a symmetry group with order 2,3,n mirrors at each triangle face vertex.

Dimensional family of omnitruncated polyhedra and tilings: 4.6.2n
Symmetry
*n32
[n,3]
Spherical Euclidean Compact hyperbolic Paracompact
*232
[2,3]
D3h
*332
[3,3]
Td
*432
[4,3]
Oh
*532
[5,3]
Ih
*632
[6,3]
P6m
*732
[7,3]
*832
[8,3]...
*∞32
[∞,3]
Coxeter
Schläfli

tr{2,3}

tr{3,3}

tr{4,3}

tr{5,3}

tr{6,3}

tr{7,3}

tr{8,3}

tr{∞,3}
Omnitruncated
figure
Vertex figure 4.6.4 4.6.6 4.6.8 4.6.10 4.6.12 4.6.14 4.6.16 4.6.∞
Dual figures
Coxeter
Omnitruncated
duals
Face
configuration
V4.6.4 V4.6.6 V4.6.8 V4.6.10 V4.6.12 V4.6.14 V4.6.16 V4.6.∞