Editing 2781: The Six Platonic Solids

{{comic
| number    = 2781
| date      = May 26, 2023
| title     = The Six Platonic Solids
| image     = the_six_platonic_solids_2x.png
| imagesize = 368x370px
| noexpand  = true
| titletext = Plato made the solids, and five were gifted to the mathematicians. But in secret Plato forged a sixth solid to rule over all the others.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete| The explaination needs to explain what a "regular polyhedron" is.}}

This comic imagines an alternate reality where mathematicians discover a new {{w|Platonic solid}} beyond the [https://sites.math.washington.edu/~julia/teaching/445_Spring2013/Paper_Euler.pdf five proven to exist in three-dimensional space.] In three dimensions there are 9 {{w|Regular polyhedra}}. A regular polyhedron is a solid figure with all faces being congruent regular polygons with the same number of alike faces arranged around each vertex. While the most familiar, Platonic solids, are referenced in the comic, there are also 4 {{w|Kepler–Poinsot polyhedra}}. In four dimensions, there are six {{w|regular polytope}}s, five of which are analogous to the five Platonic solids in 3-D space, and a sixth which is analogous to the {{w|rhombic dodecahedron}}. 

In the comic, [[Randall]] reveals the discovery of a new Platonic solid, called the "jorb", which appears to be a roughly conical shape with a round base, a triangular tip, and a rectangular extension at the bottom. One of its surfaces also seems to have parallel grooves or ribs, which may indicate curvature. The jorb does not meet the criteria for a Platonic solid, in that the faces must all be {{w|regular polygon}}s of the same shape, and each vertex must join the same number of edges. Also, Platonic solids were discovered by Plato, who they are named after. A new-found regular polyhedra would not be called a Platonic Solid because it was not discovered by him{{citation needed}}. This could be a reference to the fact that [https://youtube.com/watch?v=_hjRvZYkAgA many regular polyhedra have only been discovered recently], most of which do not fit the naive understanding of a {{w|regular polyhedron}}, having irregular concave external faces, or being infinite or self-intersecting.

The title text references the ''{{w|Lord of The Rings}},'' in which the "One Ring to Rule Them All" was forged in secret by {{w|Sauron}} to control the wearers of three magic rings given earlier to elves, seven given to dwarves, and nine given to humans, primarily by allowing him to know their location, letting him visualize the wearers and their surroundings, and by allowing him to impose his will on the wearers (which for arcane reasons only worked reliably on the rings given to humans, worn by the nine {{w|Nazgûl}}.[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3OuGOf_IGLA]) The joke is that {{w|Plato}} forged a sixth Platonic solid, the jorb, to rule the five he "gifted" to mathematicians, similarly to how Sauron tried to rule the other magic rings' wearers in Middle-earth with his One Ring.

==Transcript==
:[Six geometrical shapes are shown. All have gray surface areas with different shading to reflect their orientation. There is one shape in the middle with the other five arranged around it roughly in a pentagon. With two at the top, two just below the central and one directly below the central shape. Each shape has a label. The five above the bottom one are names after the platonic solids, and are drawn to look like them. The last one at the bottom has a roughly conical shape with a round base, a triangular tip, and a rectangular extension at the bottom. It surface also seems to have parallel grooves or ribs. Here the labels in reading order with the four rows mentioned above used.]
:Cube
:Dodecahedron 	
:Icosahedron
:Octahedron 	
:Tetrahedron 	
:Jorb

:[Caption below the comic:]
:Mathematicians long believed there were only five platonic solids, all regular polyhedra, until this year's discovery of the Jorb.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Geometry]]
[[Category:Math]]
[[Category:LOTR]]
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]]