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Prismatic uniform polyhedron
Uniform polyhedron with dihedral symmetry From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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In geometry, a prismatic uniform polyhedron is a uniform polyhedron with dihedral symmetry. They exist in two infinite families, the uniform prisms and the uniform antiprisms. All have their vertices in parallel planes and are therefore prismatoids.
![]() | This article includes a list of references, related reading, or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. (March 2025) |

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Vertex configuration and symmetry groups
Because they are isogonal (vertex-transitive), their vertex arrangement uniquely corresponds to a symmetry group.
The difference between the prismatic and antiprismatic symmetry groups is that Dph has the vertices lined up in both planes, which gives it a reflection plane perpendicular to its p-fold axis (parallel to the {p/q} polygon); while Dpd has the vertices twisted relative to the other plane, which gives it a rotatory reflection. Each has p reflection planes which contain the p-fold axis.
The Dph symmetry group contains inversion if and only if p is even, while Dpd contains inversion symmetry if and only if p is odd.
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Enumeration
There are:
- prisms, for each rational number p/q > 2, with symmetry group Dph;
- antiprisms, for each rational number p/q > 3/2, with symmetry group Dpd if q is odd, Dph if q is even.
If p/q is an integer, i.e. if q = 1, the prism or antiprism is convex. (The fraction is always assumed to be stated in lowest terms.)
An antiprism with p/q < 2 is crossed or retrograde; its vertex figure resembles a bowtie. If p/q < 3/2 no uniform antiprism can exist, as its vertex figure would have to violate the triangle inequality. If p/q = 3/2 the uniform antiprism is degenerate (has zero height).
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Forms by symmetry
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Note: The tetrahedron, cube, and octahedron are listed here with dihedral symmetry (as a digonal antiprism, square prism and triangular antiprism respectively), although if uniformly colored, the tetrahedron also has tetrahedral symmetry and the cube and octahedron also have octahedral symmetry.
See also
References
- Coxeter, Harold Scott MacDonald; Longuet-Higgins, M. S.; Miller, J. C. P. (1954). "Uniform polyhedra". Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series A. Mathematical and Physical Sciences. 246 (916). The Royal Society: 401–450. Bibcode:1954RSPTA.246..401C. doi:10.1098/rsta.1954.0003. ISSN 0080-4614. JSTOR 91532. MR 0062446. S2CID 202575183.
- Cromwell, P.; Polyhedra, CUP, Hbk. 1997, ISBN 0-521-66432-2. Pbk. (1999), ISBN 0-521-66405-5. p.175
- Skilling, John (1976), "Uniform Compounds of Uniform Polyhedra", Mathematical Proceedings of the Cambridge Philosophical Society, 79 (3): 447–457, Bibcode:1976MPCPS..79..447S, doi:10.1017/S0305004100052440, MR 0397554.
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External links
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