A rhombic dodecahedron is a Catalan solid, meaning it is built from a quantity of the same faces. Rhombuses are the parallelograms that make up this solid with a length to width ratio of √2:1. Dodecahedron means 12 (faces). It has 24 edges, 8 places where 3 joints meet, and 6 places where 4 joints meet.
The one property that sets this solid apart from many others is the fact that it fills a space perfectly with no gaps (nests perfectly), like hexagons do in 2D. In practice this means that the shape of the rhombic dodecahedron is visible in all the reflections. This is unlike the normal dodecahedron, where you get a fairly chaotic pattern.
Adafruit publishes a wide range of writing and video content, including interviews and reporting on the maker market and the wider technology world. Our standards page is intended as a guide to best practices that Adafruit uses, as well as an outline of the ethical standards Adafruit aspires to. While Adafruit is not an independent journalistic institution, Adafruit strives to be a fair, informative, and positive voice within the community – check it out here: adafruit.com/editorialstandards
Stop breadboarding and soldering – start making immediately! Adafruit’s Circuit Playground is jam-packed with LEDs, sensors, buttons, alligator clip pads and more. Build projects with Circuit Playground in a few minutes with the drag-and-drop MakeCode programming site, learn computer science using the CS Discoveries class on code.org, jump into CircuitPython to learn Python and hardware together, TinyGO, or even use the Arduino IDE. Circuit Playground Express is the newest and best Circuit Playground board, with support for CircuitPython, MakeCode, and Arduino. It has a powerful processor, 10 NeoPixels, mini speaker, InfraRed receive and transmit, two buttons, a switch, 14 alligator clip pads, and lots of sensors: capacitive touch, IR proximity, temperature, light, motion and sound. A whole wide world of electronics and coding is waiting for you, and it fits in the palm of your hand.
Have an amazing project to share? The Electronics Show and Tell is every Wednesday at 7pm ET! To join, head over to YouTube and check out the show’s live chat – we’ll post the link there.
