Werthmann - 1

Cuboctahedron
The cuboctahedron is a 3-dimensional shape known as an Archimedean solid.
An Archimedean solid is a semi-regular 3-dimensional shape, unlike a Platonic solid,
which is a regular 3-dimensional shape. An Archimedean solid is made up with regular
shapes for faces, but not each shape is similar. In this case, the cuboctahedron is made
up of eight equilateral triangles and six square faces, all regular shapes, but not all
similar. This gives the cuboctahedron a total of 14 faces. There are twelve vertices; at
each vertex, the vertices of two squares meet up with the vertices of two triangles,
making for a total of four faces meeting at each vertex. Although it is not a Platonic
solid, the cuboctahedron has plenty of interesting properties of its own. In this paper,
various methods for building the cuboctahedron, finding its volume and its surface area
will be discussed.
There are plenty of methods that can be used to find the measurements for side
lengths, surface area or volume for the cuboctahedron. Keep in mind that surface area
is the total sum of the area of all of the faces of a 3-dimensional figure and volume is the
amount of space a 3-dimensional figure takes up. The best method to use for finding the
side lengths of the cuboctahedron is using the base of the cube and marking the
midpoints. Then, when a line is drawn from one midpoint to the midpoint of an adjacent
edge (a side connected to the original side by a vertex), the measurement of the line
that connects them is the side length of the cuboctahedron. In this case, the cube will
have a side length of 19.8 units.

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1
2
1
2 x

x
Figure 1. Finding the Side Length of a Cuboctahedron
Figure 1 shows one method for finding the measurement of the side length of a
cuboctahedron. As shown as the blue line on the bottom of the square, a single side
length is equal to the measurement of the variable x which, in this case, is 19.8 units.
The blue line on the left side of the square is the segment that connects the midpoint of

the side to the vertex. This makes the measurement of that side

1
2 x, or in this case

half of 19.8, which is 9.9 units. A basic understanding of special right triangles also
known as 45-45-90 triangles is required to find the final side length of the
cuboctahedron. In a 45-45-90 triangle, the two legs are always congruent, and the
hypotenuse (the line directly across from the 90 degree angle) is always equal to the
measurement of one of the legs multiplied by 2. In this case, that makes the final
measurement 9.92 units.

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This number is the same measurement for every side of the cuboctahedron,
including the side lengths of the triangle faces.

1
2 x

1
4 x2(
3)
or

1
4 x

Figure 2. Finding the Area of a Triangular Face of the Cuboctahedron

Figure 2 shows the side lengths necessary for finding the area of one of the
triangular faces of the cuboctahedron. The red length highlighted shows the
measurement that was found to be the side length of the cuboctahedron, which was

1
2 x2, or in this case, where x = 19.8, 9.92 units. From here on out, a basic
knowledge of 30-60-90 triangles is necessary to solve for the measurement of the
altitude, which is needed to find the overall area of the triangle. In a 30-60-90 triangle,
the hypotenuse is always twice the size of the side opposite the 30 degree angle. This

Werthmann - 4

makes the side that connects the 90 degree and 60 degree angles

case, where x is the side length of the cube, which is 19.8 units,

1
4 x2. In this

1
4 of x is 4.95, which

makes the overall measurement of the side length between the 90 degree and 60
degree angles equal to 4.952 units. In a 30-60-90 triangle, the side opposite the 60
degree angle is always the measurement of the side opposite the 30 degree angle
multiplied by 3. That makes the measurement of the blue line highlighted in Figure 2

equal to

1
4 x2(3), which simplifies to

1
4 x6. When the value for x is substituted

into the expression, the altitude of the triangle face of the cuboctahedron is found to be
4.956.
Now that the side lengths and altitudes for the two types of faces for the
x = side length of cube

cuboctahedron are known, the areas of the

faces
x=
19.8 can be found using the formulas
shown in Figure 3 below.

1
Asq = ( 2 x2)2
Asq = (9.92)2
Asq = (9.92)(9.92)
Asq = 98.01(2)(2)
Asq = 98.014
Asq = 98.01(2)
Asq = 196.02 units2

Atri =

Atri =

1
2
1
2

(x2)(x6)

(9.92)(4.956)

Atri = (4.952)(4.956)
Atri = 24.5025(2)(6)
Atri = 24.5025(12)
Atri = 24.5025(23)
A = 49.0053 units2

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Figure 3. Finding the Areas of the Cuboctahedrons Faces

Once the areas of the two types of faces are found, finding the surface area of
the cuboctahedron becomes a simple process. The areas just have to be added
together the proper number of times. As stated above, in a cuboctahedron there are six
square faces and eight triangle faces, which means that to find the total surface area of
the cuboctahedron, the area of the square has to be added in six times, and the area of
the triangle has to be added in eight times, as shown in Figure 4 below.
SAcubo = Asq+Asq+Asq+Asq+Asq+Asq+Atri+Atri+Atri+Atri+Atri+Atri+Atri+Atri
SAcubo = 6(Asq)+8(Atri)
SAcubo = 6(196.02)+8(49.0053)
SAcubo = 1176.12+392.043 units2
SAcubo = surface area of the cuboctahedron, Asq = area of a square face,
Atri = area of a triangular face

Figure 4. Finding the Total Surface Area of the Cuboctahedron

Once all of the numbers have been substituted into the formula, it is possible to
figure out that the surface area of a cuboctahedron made from a cube with side lengths
of 19.8 units is 1,176.12+392.04 units 2.
As stated earlier, there are many methods to finding the volume of a
cuboctahedron. One method is by finding the volume of the cube that contains the
cuboctahedron, then subtracting the volumes of the eight pyramids made when the

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corners of the cube are cut off at the midpoints. To help with this, Figure 5 on the next
page is a picture of the net used to create the corner pyramids.

1
2

1
2 x

Figure 5. Corner Pyramid Net

The base of this pyramid comes from the triangular face of the cuboctahedron.
That is why the red segment has the same measurement as the edge of the triangular

face found in Figure 2, which was

1
2 x2 units. The three triangles connected to the

base triangle will form the three lateral faces of the pyramid. But theres something else
important to note about these triangles. They are 45-45-90 triangles, which means that
to find the length of their legs is very simple; divide the length of the hypotenuse by 2.
Fortunately, since the red highlighted side length of the base triangle is the hypotenuse,
and there is already a 2 at the end of the equation, that means to find the length of the
45-45-90 triangles legs the 2 just has to be taken off of the end of the expression. That

Werthmann - 7

leaves the expression for the blue highlighted line being

1
2 x. In this case, since x =

19.8 units, that makes the measurement of the red segment and the other sides of the
equilateral triangle used as the base equal to 9.92 units, and the measurement of the
blue segment and all of the other 45-45-90 triangle legs equal to 9.9 units.
To find the volume of a single pyramid, the equation used to find a pyramids

volume must be used. This equation is Vpyr =

1
3

(Abase)(Hpyr), where Vpyr is the volume

of the pyramid, Abase is the area of the base of the pyramid and H pyr is the height of the
pyramid. Although the equilateral triangle is assumed to be the base, in reality it is much
easier to find the volume if one of the special right triangles is used as the base. This is
because when one of the right triangles is used as the base, the length of the legs of the
other isosceles triangles can be used as the altitude.

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1
2

Figure 6. Corner Pyramid with Isosceles Triangle Base

Figure 6 shows a 3-dimensional model of the corner pyramids net when an
isosceles triangle is used as the base. All of the blue lines in the picture are congruent,

meaning they have the same length. In this case, that length is

1
2 x, where x = 19.8

units. That means that each of the blue lines the legs of the triangles is equal to 9.9
units. Now this number just has to be substituted into the equation for the volume of a
pyramid.

Vpyr =

1
3

Vpyr =

Vpyr =

1
3
Vpyr =

1
3

(Abase)(Hpyr)

1
( 2 LtriHtri)(Hpyr)

1
( 2 )(9.9)(9.9)(9.9)

1
6 (970.299)

Vpyr = 161.7165 units3

Vpyr = volume of the pyramid, Abase = area of the base of the pyramid,
Hpyr = height of the pyramid, Ltri = length of triangular base, Htri = height of triangular base

Werthmann - 9

When the correct values are substituted into this equation, the volume of a single
corner pyramid is found to be 161.717 units 3. To use this value to find the volume of the
cuboctahedron, it has to be multiplied by eight then subtracted from the volume of the
cube that holds the cuboctahedron. This is because this pyramid is the part that is cut
off of the corners of the cube and gotten rid of. And since there are eight corners over
all, eight of these parts must be taken off.
Vcubo = x3-8(Vpyr)
Vcubo = (19.8)3-8(161.7165)
Vcubo = 7762.392 1293.732
Vcubo = 6468.66 units3
Vcubo = volume of the cuboctahedron, x = side length of cube,
Vpyr = volume of the corner pyramid

Figure 7. Finding the Volume of the Cuboctahedron

Once the correct numbers are substituted into their proper spots, the volume of
the cuboctahedron is found to be 6,468.66 units 3.
This is not the only method that can be used for finding the volume of the
cuboctahedron, though. Another method is to make a right square prism and four
rectangular pyramids. When the right square prism is put into the center of the cube
with its vertices touching the midpoints of the faces of the cube, and four rectangular
pyramids are attached to the lateral faces of the prism, it makes a cuboctahedron inside
of the cube, as shown in Figure 8 below.

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Figure 8. Cuboctahedron Created with a Right Square Prism and Rectangular Pyramids

1
2 x
Figure 9. Rectangular Prism Net
Figure 9 shows the net of the rectangular prism that can be used to make the
cuboctahedron. The blue highlighted is easy to find because it is simply the same height
as the cube, which is 19.8 units tall. So the blue line is equal to 19.8 units. The red line
is fairly easy to find as well because it has already been solved for. The red line in this

Werthmann - 11

figure is the same red line as the one in Figure 5. The expression for that line was

x2, which makes the side length for the red line in this figure also

1
2

1
2 x2. Since x is

equal to 19.8 units, the side length of the red line ends up being 9.92 units.
To find the volume of this prism, the equation is V pri = Abase(Hpri), which is shown
with substitutions in Figure 10 below.
Vpri = Abase(Hpri)
Vpri = Lbase(Hbase)(19.8)
Vpri = 9.92(9.92)(19.8)
Vpri = 98.01(2)(2)(19.8)
Vpri = 98.014(19.8)
Vpri = 98.01(2)(19.8)
Vpri = 3881.196 units3

Figure 10. Finding the Volume of the Right Rectangular Prism

The volume of the prism ends up being 3,881.2 units 3 when the proper numbers
are substituted into the equation.

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1
2 x

Figure 11. Rectangular Pyramid Net

Figure 11 shows the net of the rectangular pyramid that can be used to make
part of the cuboctahedron. To start finding the volume of the pyramid, the side lengths
must be found first. The blue highlighted line is the same height as the cube, so it is
19.8 units long. The red line is as wide as the right square prism that was just made,
meaning that the red line in Figure 9 and Figure 11 have the same side length, which is

1
2 x2. In this case, because x = 19.8, that makes the red side length equal to 9.92
units.
Finding the volume of this pyramid is fairly simple, as long as its relation to the
cube is known. Here, it is pushed into the corner of the cube, placed next to the right
square prism.

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1
4 x

1
2 x

Figure 12. Relation Between the Prism, Pyramid and Outer Cube
In Figure 12, the red lines are the outline of the base of the prism. The empty
space left in the corners of the black square (the outline of the cube) is the space that
the pyramid takes up. Because of this, the blue line is the height of the pyramid. As
shown above, the triangles that the blue line makes are 45-45-90 triangles. This means
that the leg of the triangle (the blue line) and the side length of the bisected red line

have the same measurement. This measurement is

1
4 x2, or in this case, since x =

19.8, the blue line and the height of the pyramid are equal 4.952 units.
The volume of the pyramid can be found using the measurements that have
already been found. They just have to be substituted into the equation used for finding
the volume of a pyramid.

Werthmann - 14

Vpyr =

Vpyr =

Vpyr =

1
3 (Abase)(Hpyr)

1
3 (Lbase)(Hbase)(4.952)
1
3 (19.8)(9.92)(4.952)

Vpyr = (6.6)(9.92)(4.952)
Vpyr = (65.342)(4.952)
Vpyr = 323.4334
Vpyr = 323.433(2)
Vpyr = 646.866 units3
volume the
of the
pyramid,
= area of the Pyramid
base of the rectangular pyramid,
pyr =Finding
baseRectangular
FigureV13.
Volume
of A
the

When the proper numbers are substituted into the equation, as shown in Figure
13, the volume of the pyramid ends up being 646.866 units 3. Now that the volume of
both the prism and pyramid are known, its possible to find the total volume of the
cuboctahedron. Because it takes four pyramids and a single prism to create a
cuboctahedron, to find the volume simply means multiplying the volume of the pyramid
by four and adding it to the volume of the prism.
Vcubo = 4(Vpyr)+(Vpri)
Vcubo = 4(646.866)+(3881.2)
Vcubo = 2587.464+3881.196
Vcubo = 6468.66 units3
Vcubo = volume of the cuboctahedron, Vpyr = volume of the rectangular pyramid,
Vpri = volume of the right square prism

Figure 14. Finding the Volume of the Cuboctahedron

As the equation on the bottom of the previous page shows, when the volumes of
the pyramids and the prism are substituted into the equation, the result is that the
volume of the cuboctahedron is 6,468.66 units 3, which is the same volume that was
found on page 8.

Werthmann - 15
But there is yet another way to solve for the volume of a cuboctahedron. This
method requires eight tetrahedrons and six regular square pyramids, which is show in
part in Figure 15 below. .

Figure 15. Creating the Cuboctahedron with Tetrahedrons and Regular Square
Pyramids
The tetrahedron is a triangular pyramid made with four congruent triangles, and
the regular square pyramid has a square base and four congruent triangles for lateral
faces.

1
2 x

Figure 16. Tetrahedron Net

Werthmann - 16
Figure 16 shows the net for a tetrahedron. All of the triangles in the tetrahedrons
net are congruent, meaning all of their side lengths are congruent as well. That means
that the measurement of the red segment is also the measurement for all of the other
sides of the tetrahedron.

Figure 17. Square Pyramid, Tetrahedron and their Placements in the Cuboctahedron
Figure 17 shows the placement of the tetrahedron in the cuboctahedron. One
side length is shown by the red highlighted line. This measurement connects the
midpoints of two adjacent edges of the cube, which makes finding the measurements
for the side lengths of the tetrahedron simple, because that measurement has already
been found in Figure 1 and multiple other figures. The measurement for the segment is

1
2 x2 units. In this case, that makes the red segments in both Figure 16 and Figure
17 equal to 9.92 units, as well as all of the other sides of the tetrahedrons.
Finding the height of the tetrahedron is tricky. It requires knowledge of the
relationship between the equilateral triangle faces altitudes, and the properties of
30-60-90 triangles.

Werthmann - 17

1
4 x2
(3)
or

1
2 x

1 1
( 34

2 1
( 34

1
4 x
Figure 18. Finding the Altitudes of the Tetrahedrons Triangular Faces
Figure 18 is a picture of one of the faces of the tetrahedron, along with all three
of its altitudes. To start finding the height of the tetrahedron, the altitude of the face must
be found first. In this case, its the green line. Because it is an equilateral triangle, the

face can be turned into two 30-60-90 triangles. And since one side length is

that makes the hypotenuse

1
2 x2,

1
2 x2, which in this case is 9.92 units, since x = 19.8

units. Because its a 30-60-90, the hypotenuse is always twice the size of the littlest

side, which makes the littlest side equal to

1
4 x2, which is 4.952 units. And because

Werthmann - 18
the longer leg in a 30-60-90 triangle is always the length of the shortest leg multiplied by
3, the length of the green leg is 4.956 units. Now comes the part where a basic
knowledge of the equilateral triangles altitudes is necessary.
In an equilateral triangle, when all three altitudes are drawn in, they intersect in
the center of the triangle. The center point divides each altitude into two parts the

shorter part is always

1
3

of the overall altitude and the longer part is always

the overall altitude. That means that in this case the red segment is

the overall altitude of the triangle, and the blue segment is

1
3

2
3

2
3

of

of the length of

of the overall altitudes

measurement. Since the altitude was found to be 4.956 units, that makes the red
segment 3.36 units long and the blue segment 1.656 units long.

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1
2 x
2 1

( 3 4

Figure 19. Finding the Height of the Tetrahedron

Now that the length of the red segment has been found to be 3.36 units, and the
edges of the tetrahedron are known to be 9.92, the Pythagorean Theorem can be used
to find the overall height of the tetrahedron, as shown in Figure 19 in blue. The values
just have to be substituted into their proper places. Since the Pythagorean Theorem is
a2+b2=c2, which means the length of the first leg of a right triangle squared plus the
length of the other leg squared is equal to the length of the hypotenuse squared, the
length of the red segment can be substituted in for a, and the length of the hypotenuse
can be substituted in for c, and the value of b can be found as the height of the pyramid,
as shown in Figure 20 below.
a2+b2=c2
(3.36)2+b2=(9.92)2
10.89(6) +b2=98.01(2)
65.34+b2=196.02
b2=130.68
b=130.68

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Figure 20. Finding the Height of the Tetrahedron Using the Pythagorean Theorem
When the numbers are properly substituted into the Pythagorean Theorem, the
height of the tetrahedron is found to be 130.68 units. Now the volume of the
tetrahedron can be found.
Vpyr =

Vpyr =

Vpyr =

1
3 (Abase)(Hpyr)

1
1
(
3
2 )(Lbase)(Hbase)(Hpyr)
1
6 (9.92)(4.956)(130.68)

Vpyr = 1.652(4.956)(130.68)
Vpyr = 8.167512(130.68)
Vpyr = 8.1675(1568.16)
Vpyr = 8.1675(39.6)
Vpyr = 323.433 units3
Figure 21.VFinding
the of
Volume
of the Tetrahedron
the tetrahedron,
Abase = area of the base of the tetrahedron,
pyr = volume

As shown above in Figure 21, the total volume of a single tetrahedron is 323.433
units3. The next step in this method of finding the volume of a cuboctahedron is to find
the volume of a regular square pyramid.

Werthmann - 21

1
2 x

Figure 22. Regular Square Pyramid Net

Figure 22 is a picture of the net used to create the regular square pyramid.
Because it is regular, all the sides have the same measurement. The measurement of
the red line highlighted in the picture has already been solved for in multiple other

figures throughout this paper, but primarily it can be seen in Figure 1. Because it is

1
2

x2, and x = 19.8 units, the side lengths of this regular square pyramid net are all 9.92
units.
Finding the height of this pyramid is very simple. This is because of its relation to
the cube. It is exactly half of the height of the outer cube that the cuboctahedron is

Werthmann - 22

made within, so the expression used for finding the height of the pyramid in is

1
2 x,

which is 9.9 units.

Vpyr =

1
3 (Abase)(Hpyr)

Vpyr =

1
2
3 (Lbase) (9.9)

Vpyr =

Vpyr =

Vpyr =

1
1
2
(
3
2 x2) (9.9)
1
2
3 (9.92) (9.9)
1
3 (98.01)(2)(9.9)

Vpyr = (32.67)(2)(9.9)

Figure 23. Finding the Volume of the Square Pyramid

The equation in Figure 23 above shows that when the proper measurements are
substituted into the right spots, the volume of the regular square pyramid is found to be
646.866 units3. Now that the volumes for both the tetrahedron and the square pyramid
are known, the total volume for the cuboctahedron can be found using this method in a
simple manner.
Since it takes eight tetrahedrons and six regular square pyramids to create the
cuboctahedron, the volume of the tetrahedron has to be multiplied by eight and added
to the volume of the square pyramid multiplied by six, which is shown in Figure 24.
Vcubo = 8(Vtet)+6(Vpyr)
Vcubo = 8(323.433)+6(646.866)
Vcubo = 2587.464+3881.196
Vcubo = 6468.66 units3
Vcubo = volume of the cuboctahedron, Vtet = volume of the tetrahedron,
Vpyr = volume of the regular square pyramid

Werthmann - 23

Figure 24. Finding the Volume of the Cuboctahedron

Once the numbers are substituted into the correct spots in the equation, the
volume for the cuboctahedron is found to be 6,468.66 units 3 yet again. And that is the
third and final method used for finding the volume of a cuboctahedron discussed in this
paper.
Actually creating the nets for this is a particularly difficult process; many of the
side lengths include a 2, which is impossible to measure out exactly. So, of course, not
every net is folded to the exact measurements, but they are as perfect as they can be.
The models used to create the nets for this assignment were scaled down by 6.6 units,
changing 19.8 units into 3 units, and 9.9 units into 1.5 units.
Another problem that was encountered during this assignment was finding the
measurements for some of the nets. Finding the height of the tetrahedron was a
particularly difficult process because the only way to do it was to find the altitudes of one
of the faces and use previously obtained knowledge of the intersection of the altitudes
to get the measurements for the leg and hypotenuse used in the Pythagorean Theorem
to find the height.
Overall, although this assignment was very detailed work that required a lot of
description, a good grasp on the concepts of 3-dimensional shapes and their
measurements and formulas was all that was really needed, along with the ability to use
a compass and a straight edge to construct the nets.