CENTER FOR CREATIVE LEARNING IIT

GANDHINAGAR

HIGHER
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Make Science and
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ABOUT CCL
In these changing times we need to re-imagine our education. We need to
make our classes engaging, provide experiential learning, foster creativi-
ty/innovation and focus on concepts. This is the only way forward for us
to face the future that lies ahead. We need to get out of rote learning and
provide experiences to children that they can relate to in the classes. This
can be achieved by inspired teachers/facilitators, experiential learning with
deep understanding of concepts.

Center for Creative Learning (CCL) at IIT Gandhinagar was set up in 2017
to bring back the gleam in the eyes of our children and teachers. The goal
was to create and disseminate science/math content which will make learn-
ing engaging, joyous and conceptual. All this would be done with inex-
pensive material so that every child can have access. Since its inception,
we have developed 200+ hands-on activities, conducted over 50 hands-on
experiential workshops with 6000+ teachers. The idea of these workshops
was to expose the teachers to the power of hands-on learning. The feedback
from the teachers has been overwhelming.

We have worked with Kendriya Vidyalaya (KV) teachers from across the
country, teachers of Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Ahmedabad Municipal
Corporation. All the teachers unanimously stressed on the need to provide
this experience to every teacher across the country. We also realize a great
need to scale our workshops and reach out to all the teachers of the country.
This reach is possible using technology.
2
 CONTENTS
PLATONIC SOLIDS 5
• TETRAHEDRON 8
• CUBE 10
• OCTAHEDRON 13
• DODECAHEDRON 15
• ICOSAHEDRON 17
CIRCLING AROUND A GEAR 21
MECHANICAL FROG 27
SWIMMING FROG 32
UP IT UP 39
TILT STICK 43
TRAMMEL 4 51
TRAMMEL 6 56
30 BALL(RHOMBIC TRIACONTAHEDRON) 61
CHITTI65
ABC OF MATH (ANY BASE COUNTING)  73
BRACHISTOCHRONE CURVE 77
GEAR JACK 81
HAMILTONIAN PATH 93
LARGEST BOX FROM A RECTANGLE 100
REAULEUX CAR 104
MONTY HALL PUZZLE 110
LEVER SYSTEM 118
OPTICAL BENCH 123
PERISCOPE132
SINE WAVE CAR 136
TRIANGULAR WAVE CAR 144
CYCLOID CAR 153
STRAIGHT LINE DRAWER 160
VERTICAL PEN STAND 166
PULLEY SYSTEM 169
GEAR LAMP 179
DUAL OF CUBE 201
DUAL OF OCTAHEDRON 204
3
DUAL OF TETRAHEDRON 208
DUAL OF DODECAHEDRON 211
DUAL OF ICOSAHEDRON 214
ARCHIMEDEAN SOLIDS (13) 217
• TRUNCATED TETRAHEDRON 219
• TRUNCATED CUBE 222
• TRUNCATED OCTAHEDRON 225
• TRUNCATED DODECAHEDRON 228
• TRUNCATED ICOSAHEDRON 231
• CUBOCTAHEDRON 234
• RHOMBICUBOCTAHEDRON 237
• RHOMBICOSIDODECAHEDRON 241
• TRUNCATED CUBOCTAHEDRON 245
• ICOSIDODECAHEDRON 249
• TRUNCATED ICOSIDODECHAHEDRON 253
• SNUB CUBE 257
• SNUB DODECAHEDRON 261
NON-TRANSITIVE DICE 265
STACK IT UP 270
HANDSHAKE  273
PUZZLE273
RING ROPE PUZZLE 276
ARROW SLIDING PUZZLE 281
3 PYRAMIDS TO CUBE 284
6 PYRAMIDS TO CUBE 287

4
 PLATONIC SOLIDS

LEARNINGS
3D shapes

Polyhedrons

Vertex

Edges

Faces of
Polyhedron

Named after the Greek philosopher Plato, a platonic solid is

constructed by congruent (identical in shape and size) reg-
ular (all angles equal and all sides equal) polygonal faces
with the same number of faces meeting at each vertex. The
interesting thing about Platonic solids is that only 5 solids
meet these two criteria - Tetrahedron, Hexahedron, Octa-
hedron, Icosahedron and Dodecahedron.

5
WHAT’S GOING ON?
1. It is also interesting that despite having only two con-
straints- congruent regular faces with same number of
faces meeting at each vertex- there are only five such
solids.
2. Let's start with the simplest polygon - triangle. Join three
triangles at all vertices which is the minimum number
required to get a closed shape. The shape you get is a
tetrahedron.
3. With four triangles at a point, you get an octahedron.
With five, an icosahedron.
4. If you try to make a solid with 6 triangles at a vertex,
you would find that you can't make a closed solid as
the shape becomes flat (60° of equilateral triangle x 6
= 360°).
5. With more than 7 triangles, the total angle at a vertex
becomes more than 360 and you can't get a convex sol-
id.
6. So there are 3 platonic solids using triangles. Next, take
the four sided regular polygon, a square.
7. With 3 squares at a point, you get a cube. Place four
squares at a vertex and the shape again becomes flat
(90° × 4 = 360°). With more than 4 squares at a point,
you get angle more than 360 degrees.
8. Now, using 3 pentagons at a vertex, you get a dodeca-
hedron. With 4 pentagons at a vertex, the angle becomes
more than 360° (108° × 4 = 432°)
9. If you use 3 hexagons at a point, the shape becomes flat
again (120° × 3 = 360°).
10. And that's it. We have proved that there can only exist
five!

6
EXPLORE
The Platonic solids have been known since antiquity. In
the 16th century, the German astronomer Johannes Kepler
attempted to relate the five extraterrestrial planets known
at that time to the five Platonic solids. He proposed a mod-
el of the Solar System in which the five solids were set
inside one another and separated by a series of inscribed
and circumscribed spheres. Kepler's original idea had to
be abandoned, but out of his research came his three laws
of orbital dynamics, the first of which was that the orbits of
planets are ellipses rather than circles, changing the course
of physics and astronomy.

7
 TETRAHEDRON

LEARNINGS
3D shapes

Polyhedrons

Vertex

Edges

Faces of
Polyhedron
Tetrahedron is the simplest of all the Platonic sol-
ids. It is formed by joining three triangles at each
vertex. The bond of carbon atoms (for exam-
ple, in CH4) is arranged in a tetrahedral geometry.

WHAT’S GOING ON?

A tetrahedron has four triangular faces (tetra - 4, hedron-
faces)
Total vertices for these 4 triangles - 4 × 3 = 12.
As three triangles are joined at each vertex of tetrahedron,
total vertices of tetrahedron = 12/3 = 4.
Total edges for 4 triangles = 4 × 3 = 12.
As two triangles of tetrahedron share the same edge, total
edges of tetrahedron = 12/ 2 = 6.

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4 5

9
 CUBE

LEARNINGS
3D shapes

Polyhedrons

Vertex

Edges

Faces of
Polyhedron
Cube is the most famous Platonic solid which is formed
by joining three squares at each vertex.

WHAT TO DO?
Take out the pieces from the flat sheet given.
Use the given joints to and rubberbands to attach the
squares at 90 degrees to compleat the cube.

WHAT’S GOING ON?

1. A cube, also called hexahedron, has six square faces
(hexa - 6, hedron- faces)
2. Total vertices for these 6 squares - 6 × 4 = 24.
3. As three square are joined at each vertex of cube, total
vertices of cube = 24/3 = 8.
4. Total edges for 6 squares = 6 × 4 = 24.
5. As two squares of cube share the same edge, total edg-
es of cube = 24/ 2 = 12.
10
EXPLORE
The solid obtained by joining the center of the faces of
a polyhedron is called its dual structure. If you join the
center of the faces of a cube, you get a structure called oc-
tahedron which is another Platonic solid. This means that
the dual of a cube is octahedron.

For any two dual structures, the number of faces and verti-
ces is swapped, and the number of edges is same.

FACES VERTICES EDGES

SOLID
6 8 12

DULE
8 6 12

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22 43

4 5

12
 OCTAHEDRON

LEARNINGS
3D shapes

Polyhedrons

Vertex

Edges

Faces of
Polyhedron
Octahedron is one of the Platonic solids which is formed
by joining 4 triangles at each vertex.
WHAT’S GOING ON?
1. An octahedron has eight triangular faces (octa - 8, he-
dron- faces)
2. Total vertices for these 8 triangles: 8 × 3 = 24.
3. As four triangles are joined at each vertex of octahe-
dron, total vertices of octahedron = 24/4 = 6.
4. Total edges for 8 triangles = 8 × 3 = 24.
5. As two triangles of octahedron share the same
edge, total edges of octahedron = 24/ 2 = 12

EXPLORE
1. Can you see three squares in the octahedron in three
perpendicular planes?

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2 3

4 5

14
 DODECAHEDRON

LEARNINGS
3D shapes

Polyhedrons

Vertex

Edges

Faces of
Polyhedron

Dodecahedron is one of the Platonic solids which is

formed by joining three pentagons at each vertex.

WHAT’S GOING ON?

A dodecahedron has four twelve pentagonal faces (do-
deca - 12, hedron- faces)
Total vertices for these 12 pentagons - 12 × 5 = 60
As three pentagons are joined at each vertex of dodecahe-
dron, total vertices of dodecahedron = 60/3 = 20.
Total edges for 12 pentagons = 12 × 5 = 60.
As two pentagons of dodecahedron share the same
edge, total edges of dodecahedron = 60/ 2 = 30.

15
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3 4

5 6

16
 ICOSAHEDRON

LEARNINGS
3D shapes

Polyhedrons

Vertex

Edges

Faces of
Polyhedron
Icosahedron is one of the Platonic solids which is formed by
joining five triangles at each vertex. It is one of the most beau-
tiful Platonic solids, which resembles a ball. Icosahedron is
the structure on which the Geodesic domes (popularized by
Buckminster Fuller) are based.

WHAT’S GOING ON?

1. An icosahedron has twenty triangular faces (icosa - 20, he-
dron- faces)
2. Total vertices for these 20 triangles: 20 × 3 = 60.
3. As five triangles are joined at each vertex of icosahedron,
total vertices of octahedron = 60/5 = 12.
4. Total edges for 20 triangles = 20 × 3 = 60.
5. As two triangles of icosahedron share the same
edge, total edges of icosahedron = 60/ 2 = 30

17
EXPLORE
The solid obtained by joining the center of the faces of
a polyhedron is called its dual structure. If you join the
center of the faces of an icosahedron, you get a structure
called dodecahedron which is another Platonic solid. This
means that the dual of an icosahedron is dodecahedron.

For any two dual structures, the number of faces and

vertices is swapped, and the number of edges is same.

FACES VERTICES EDGES

SOLID
20 12 30

DUEL
12 20 30

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2
2 4
3

4 5

19
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20
 CIRCLING AROUND A
GEAR

LEARNINGS
Gear Ratio

If you rotate a coin around a fixed

coin of the same diameter, how many times
would it rotate to cover the perimeter once?
Rotate the gears and get ready to be amazed!

WHAT TO DO?
1. Connect two gears such that the first gear is fixed and
the second gear revolves around it.
2. Keep the first gear fixed and rotate the second gear
around the first gear. Observe the number of rotation
the second has complete on its own axis when it com-
pletes one rotation around the first gear.
3. Now, connect a third gear with the second gear.
4. Observe the number of rotations of the third gear.
21
WHAT’S GOING ON?
1. The first gear is fixed at one place and the second and
third gears revolve around it.
2. If the second gear is half in size as compared to the
first gear, the number of teeth in second gear are half
of that in first gear.
3. If these two gears were fixed at one place, the second
gear would have rotated twice as much as the first gear.
4. The second gear is also going around the first gear. As
the direction of rotation and revolution is same, the
total rotations of the second gear in a single journey
around the first gear: 2+1 = 3.
5. This means that the second gear rotates three times in
one revolution around the first gear.
6. The third gear also goes around the first gear. In this
case, the direction of rotation and revolution is oppo-
site. Therefore, total number of rotations: -2 + 1 = -1.
7. This means that the third gear rotates one time in one
revolution around the first gear, and in opposite direc-
tion.
8. If the size of first and third gears becomes same, the
third gear doesn’t rotate at all (-1 + 1 = 0).

EXPLORE
What happens if you add a fourth, fifth gear and so on. Can
you generalize this for n gears?

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4 5

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8 9

10 11

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13

14

15 16

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19 20

21 22

26
 MECHANICAL FROG

LEARNINGS
Walking
Machine

Distance

Speed

Time

DC Motor

Circular to A DC motor and some MDF parts is what it takes to get

Linear Motion this mechanical frog hopping and the maker hopping
right behind it, treating it almost like a pet.
Dynamic
WHAT’S GOING ON?
Mechanism
1. With every rotation of the motor, the frog moves for-
ward for a small distance.
2. When the frog-shaped pieces touch the ground, they
act like an anchor and the body of the frog moves for-
ward.
3. In the next cycle, the body touches the ground and the
frog-shaped pieces are displaced forward.
4. This cycle repeats and the frog keeps hopping for-
ward!

27
EXPLORE
How much does each leg move in one step (in terms of the
radius of the gear)?

Organize a race for different frogs (you can also make oth-
er frogs by cutting card board in shapes given in the MDF
sheet.)

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8 9

10 11

30
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14 15

16 17

31
 SWIMMING FROG

LEARNINGS
Mechanics

Gears

The frog looks like swimming when you roll the wheels
forward. It is a fascinating toy which is really simple to
build. The hands and legs are attached to the wheels and
move back and forth when the wheels rotate.
WHAT’S GOING ON?
The legs of the frog are connected to the rear wheel
such that when you push the frog forward, the legs
make a linear motion. They move forward and back-
ward, mimicking the swimming movement of legs.
So circular motion is converted into linear motion. The
legs, in turn, are connected to the hands which also move
when you move the frog. And the frog looks like swim-
ming on the floor.
EXPLORE
Make similar toys using cardboard. Cut out the pieces and
make different motions.

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8 9

10 11

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14 15

16 17

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20 21

22 23

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26 27

28 29

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32 33

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 UP IT UP

LEARNINGS
Critical
Thinking

Logical
Reasoning

Permutation
Combination

Spatial
Cognition This is an beautiful puzzle with 8 cubes. The aim of the
puzzle is to invert all the cubes upside down by just rolling
them. It was discussed in Martin Gardner’s Mathemati-
cal Games column in the Scientific American in 1975.

WHAT TO DO?
The puzzle consists of eight identical cubes in a 3 x 3
grid with an empty middle cell. You can roll a cube at
a time into the empty space. A move consists in rolling
a cube to an empty cell and the aim is to invert all eight
cubes upside down. In how many moves you can solve
this puzzle?

39
WHAT’S GOING ON?
1. The creator of the puzzle, John Harris, has reported a
38-move solution to this puzzle.
2. In reference to the empty cell, the cubes are named up,
down left and right (U, D, L, R).
3. Roll the cubes according to the sequence given below:
URDL, DRUL, LDRR, UULD, RUL; LDR, ULDD,
RRUL, LDRU, LURD.

EXPLORE
1. Each cube has 6 sides. Therefore eight cubes have 68
= 1,679,616 possible orientations. In the 3×3 grid, pos-
sible number of positions will be 9 × 68 = 15,116,544.
This is the possible number of orientations you can
have with the 8 cubes!
2. Try to find a solution having moves less-
er than the given solution (of 38 moves).

40
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21 4
3

4 5

41
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8 9

10 11

42
 TILT STICK

LEARNINGS
Geometry

Trigonometry

Can a straight stick pass through a small curved slot? In

this activity, you can make a rotating mechanism which
lets the straight stick pass through a hyperbolic slot. The
stick is tilted according to the curvature of the hyperbola.
It is extremely satisfying to watch the stick pass through!

WHAT’S GOING ON?

The stick passes through the hole, but not all at the same
time. First the bottom part goes in, and then gradually
the entire stick passes through the hole. If the entire stick
had to pass through at the same time, the hole had to be
a straight line. But as different parts of the stick pass at
different times, the hole is a curved slot.

43
EXPLORE
1. The projection of a line on a plane is generally a line,
and not a curve. Because the stick is slightly tilted and
generates a shape called hyperboloid while rotating.
The projection of this hyperboloid on a plane is a hy-
perbola. Therefore the hole you see is in the shape of
a hyperbola.
2. Although hyperboloid is a (doubly) curved surface, it
can be made entirely with the help of straight lines.

HYPERBOLOID

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3 4

5 6

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9 10

11 12

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15 16

17 18

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21

22 23

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26 27

28 29

49
30

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 TRAMMEL 4

LEARNINGS
Ellipse

Four Bar
Mechanism

You can draw an ellipse using this trammel of Archimedes.

The two shuttles move back and forth in perpendicular
channels and the end point of handle moves in an ellipse.

WHAT’S GOING ON?

1. A trammel is a mechanism that generates the shape
of an ellipse. Archimedes developed this great device
2000 years back to draw an ellipse.
2. It consists of two shuttles which are confined (“tram-
meled”) to channels (or rails) and a rod which is at-
tached to the shuttles at fixed positions along the rod.
3. As the shuttles move back and forth, each along its
channel, the end of the rod moves in an elliptical path.
4. The handle goes round and round. The pieces look like
they would crash into each other but they never do.
5. It is also similar to the motion of a 4-stroke engine and
crankshaft.

51
EXPLORE
1. You can change the shape of the ellipse (called the ec-
centricity) by moving the point where the pen is at-
tached. Can you find out the point where the pen would
draw a circle?
2. You can also prove mathematically that the locus of the
pen is an ellipse.
x = (p+q) cosΘ
y = q sinΘ
Therefore, x2 / (p+q)2 + y2/q2 = 1
3. It is also an example of a lever that switches back and
forth from a first class lever to a second class lever.

B θ D x

θ
A E

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6 7

8 9

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12 13

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 TRAMMEL 6

LEARNINGS
Ellipse

Six Bar
Mechanism

This is another version of the trammel of Archimedes. It

has three shuttles instead of two which move in different
channels to produce an ellipse.

56
WHAT’S GOING ON?
1. A trammel is a mechanism that generates the shape
of an ellipse. Archimedes developed this great device
2000 years back to draw an ellipse.
2. It consists of three shuttles which are confined (“tram-
meled”) to channels (or rails) and a rod which is at-
tached to the shuttles at fixed positions along the rod.
3. As the shuttles move back and forth, each along its
channel, the end of the rod moves in an elliptical path.
4. The handle goes round and round. The pieces look like
they would crash into each other but they never do.
It is also similar to the motion of a 6-stroke engine and
crankshaft.

EXPLORE
1. The shuttles move along three axes. There is a major
axis and other two are at offset of 120°. Can you iden-
tify which one is the major axis?
2. It is also an example of a lever that switches back and
forth from a first class lever to a second class lever.

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2 3

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6 7

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15 16

60
 30 BALL
(RHOMBIC TRIACONTAHEDRON)

LEARNINGS
Polyhedrons

3D Geometry

Dihedral Angle

The rhombic triacontahedron is the most common thir-

ty-faced polyhedron. Therefore it is sometimes called the
30 Ball. All the 30 faces of this ball are rhombuses. Make
this ball using the sheet and study all the properties.
Then insert a light bulb and hang it as lamp!

61
WHAT’S GOING ON?
1. This structure can be made starting from one of the
platonic solids, dodecahedron.
2. Make pyramids on the pentagonal faces of dodecahe-
dron and adjust the height of pyramids such that the
two adjacent triangles come in same plane (total num-
ber of triangles formed = 12 × 5 = 60)
3. The two triangles, combined together, make a rhom-
bus (number of rhombuses = 60/2 = 30). The resulting
structure is the Rhombic Triacontahedron.
4. It is a polyhedron with 30 rhombic faces, 60 edges and
32 vertices of two types.
5. The two diagonals of the rhombus are in golden ratio,
φ. Therefore the rhombus is called a golden rhombus.

EXPLORE
1. The dihedral angle is the angle between the faces of the
polyhedron. It is the angle at which the joints to join
the rhombuses are cut. In this case, the dihedral angle
between the adjacent faces is 144°. Can you get to this
dihedral angle using geometry?
2. Find the height of the pyramids if the sides of the
rhombus is taken as 1 unit length.

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6 7

8 9

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 CHITTI

LEARNINGS
Walking
Machine

Distance
Time and Speed

DC Motor

Mechatronics

Circular to
Linear Motion
Using only a simple DC motor and some gears, your robot
Dynamic
is ready to walk like a human! The name is taken from the
Mechanism
famous Rajnikanth movie “Robot” in which he played a
robot named Chitti!

65
WHAT’S GOING ON?

The two legs of the robot move alternative-

ly and the body of the robot moves forward.
The motor used in the robot is a dual shaft mo-
tor, which means that the shaft is coming out of both
the ends of the motor. The two ends of the shaft are
attached to the two gears rotating different legs.
The alternate movement of the two legs
is because of phase difference (of 180 de-
grees) in the gears that move different legs.
When one leg touches the ground, that end of
the shaft can’t rotate further. Therefore the oth-
er gear rotates and takes one step forward.
Then this rotating gear touches the ground, acts as a pivot
and the other gear moves and so on. This way, the entire
robot moves forward.

EXPLORE
The two legs of the robot move alternative-
ly and the body of the robot moves forward.
The motor used in the robot is a dual shaft mo-
tor, which means that the shaft is coming out of both
the ends of the motor. The two ends of the shaft are
attached to the two gears rotating different legs.
The alternate movement of the two legs is be-
cause of phase difference ( of 180 degrees)
in the gears that move different legs.
When one leg touches the ground, that end of
the shaft can’t rotate further. Therefore the oth-
er gear rotates and takes one step forward.
Then this rotating gear touches the ground, acts as a pivot
and the other gear moves and so on. This way, the entire
robot moves forward.

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2 4

2 3

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6 7

8 9

68
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12 2 413

14 15

69
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181 119

121
20

70
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24

23

25

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 ABC OF MATH
(ANY BASE COUNTING)

LEARNINGS
Number
Systems

Decimal
System

Binary System

Basic
Mathematical
Operations

We are all comfortable in the decimal system but under-

standing other number systems (such as binary) really en-
riches our understanding about counting and other basic
mathematical operations such as addition, multiplication
etc.

Start counting in any number system using this activity

and some beads.

73
WHAT’S GOING ON?
1. Adjust the length of the base sticks such that it can fit
the number of beads required by the number system.
For example, if you are counting in decimal system
(base 10), you should have stick length corresponding
to 9 beads. For base 5 counting, the length should be
adjusted to fit 4 beads.
2. Let’s discuss how to count in base 5. But it can be eas-
ily extended to any base.
3. Let’s count to 17 in base 5. Start putting beads in the
sticks, starting from the first stick. For zero, there are
no beads in any stick.
4. For one, put one bead and so on till 4. Now the first
stick is full.
5. For the next number, empty all the beads of the first
stick, and put one bead in the second stick.
6. So every bead in the second stick is equivalent to 5 in
this system. Try to relate it with the decimal counting
we are familiar with.
7. When you reach 17, you would see that there are 3
beads in the 2nd stick and 2 beads in the first stick.
Verify this with your result. Therefore, 17 in base 5
would be written as 32.

EXPLORE
1. How much can you count on five sticks if you are
counting in binary system?
2. Try to add, subtract, multiply and divide numbers in
other number systems.

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 BRACHISTOCHRONE
CURVE
LEARNINGS
Curve of
Fastest Descent

Cycloid

Gravity

If you want to slide from point A to point B, what should

be the shape of the slide so that you reach your destination
in the shortest time? At first look, it seems that the slide
should be a straight line but you are in for surprising ride!
WHAT’S GOING ON?
1. Mark a point on the circumference of a circular wheel.
The path traced by the point as the wheel rolls along a
straight line is called a cycloid curve.
2. The Brachistochrone (Greek word meaning ‘short-
est time’) curve is part of the cycloid curve which is
the curve of fastest descent if the object is just being
pulled by gravity.
3. You want the path to be short (like a straight line) for
the shortest time but you also want the object to go
fast which requires a steeper slope. But increasing the
steepness at the start also increases the total distance.
77
4. So the curve of fastest descent has to balance length
with the steepness. And that’s what the Brachisto-
chrone curve does.
5. The problem was first posed by Johann Bernoulli in
1696 to the most brilliant mathematicians in the world
(in particular, he was very concerned to show off that
he was smarter than his brother and rival, Jacob Ber-
noulli).

EXPLORE
1. The Brachistochrone curve is the same at Tautochrone
(Tauto - same, chrone- time) curve which is also the
cycloid. Release two marbles on this surve from any-
where and they will reach the bottom at the same time
2. The Brachistochrone curve is the fastest curve of de-
scent for any two points on the curve, not just the high-
est and lowest points. It means that the object may do
down and then again up on a cycloid but it would still
be the fastest descent.
3. Johann Bernoulli also mailed this problem to Issac
Newton who stayed up all night to solve it and mailed
the solution anonymously by the next post. Upon read-
ing the solution, Bernoulli immediately recognized its
author, exclaiming that he “recognizes a lion from his
claw mark”. This story gives some idea of Newton’s
power, since Johann Bernoulli took two weeks to solve
it.

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 GEAR JACK

LEARNINGS
Mechanical
Advantage

This is an example of deployable mechanism used to lift

objects. A small rotation of the gear can lift the object
really high!
WHAT’S GOING ON?
1. In a normal car jack, you have to spin the screw for a
long time and then jack moves up a little distance. The
jack therefore provides mechanical advantage and you
are able to lift the car easily.
2. In this deployable structure, a small rotation of the
gear results in a large movement of object at the top
- due to the scissor-like structures. The more scissors
you add at the top, the more distance is covered in a
single rotation of the handle.
3. So what’s the catch? Can you add as many scissors as
you want? No. The more the number of scissors, the
more effort required to rotate the handle!
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4. Therefore, this machine can be said to have negative
mechanical advantage. This is also used in various
real-life applications where you want to increase the
amount of movement/rotation, for example, the hand
blender. You have to move the handle for a small dis-
tance and the blender rotates for a long time.
5. But always remember that if the distance is increased,
you’ll have to exert a large amount of force (for exam-
ple, a gear cycle in a higher gear). There is really no
such thing as a free lunch!

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 HAMILTONIAN PATH

LEARNINGS
Geometry

Logical
Reasoning

Creative
Thinking

Can you visit the 12 vertices on the three rectangles such

that you don’t go on any vertex twice and the ending
point is the same as starting point? This puzzle is called
the Hamiltonian path.

WHAT’S GOING ON?

1. A path that visits each vertex exactly once is called a
Hamiltonian path.
2. The corners of three interlocking golden rectangles
(the length and breadth are in golden ratio, 1.618)
form the vertices of an icosahedron, one of the five
Platonic solids.
3. Icosahedron has five triangular faces meeting at each
vertex.
4. All the five platonic solids have Hamiltonian cycle
connecting their vertices.
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5. Here is an illustration of Hamiltonian cycle in the sim-
plest Platonic solid - tetrahedron. Figure 1(b) shows a
Hamiltonian cycle that visits all the vertices without
repetition of any edges.
6. Here, the cycle is shown for the given icosahedron.

EXPLORE
1. Explore Hamiltonian path for other Platonic solids.
2. Can you figure out a path in icosahedron which covers
all the edges exactly once? Note that in the Hamilto-
nian cycle, you covered all the vertices, not the edges.
An Eulerian path is a trail that visits every edge exactly
once (allowing revisiting of vertices).
3. Among all the Platonic solids, only Octahedron can
have Eulerian path. While solving the famous Seven
Bridges of Königsberg problem, Euler showed a graph
can have an Eulerian path only if all the vertices in
the graph have an even degree (which means the num-
ber of edges connected at a vertex). In Icosahedron, 5
edges meets at all the 12 vertices, hence it can’t have
Eulerian path.

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 LARGEST BOX FROM A
RECTANGLE

LEARNINGS
Geometry

Area of a
Rectangle

Volume of a
Cuboid

Introduction to
Calculus

Suppose you have an A4 sheet and you want to make

a box (a cuboid) out of it. You can do so by cutting
squares from the four corners and folding up the
remaining sides to make a box. The question is, how
much square should you cut to get the box with the
maximum volume?

WHAT TO DO?
Fill different boxes with sand and find out which box
can take maximum amount of sand. That box that holds
maximum sand has the maximum volume.

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OBSERVATION
1. You would see that the area of the base gradually de-
creases and the height of the box increases.
2. Initially the base area is more but height is very small
(*photo of box 1*). Therefore the box has very small
volume.
3. In the innermost box (*photo of box 4*), the height is
maximum but the base area is very small. Therefore
this box also won’t hold large amount of sand (and
hence has low volume).
4. The height has to be somewhere in between if you
want to maximize the volume.
5. You would find that the box 2 has the largest volume.
(*photo of box 2*)

WHAT’S GOING ON?

1. The box marked as 2 corresponds to the maximum
volume.
2. For an A4 sheet (21 cm x 29.7 cm), you have to cut the
square of 4 cm (4.04 to be exact) to get the box with
maximum volume. You can check the length of this
square on the sheet and verify if it is 4 cm.

EXPLORE
1. Are there some boxes which have the same volume?
2. This problem of maximum volume can also be solved
accurately by writing the volume in terms of the length
of the square and then ‘differentiating’ it. This branch
of mathematics is called calculus and helps us find
when the things are maximum or minimum.

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 REAULEUX CAR

LEARNINGS
Curve of
Constant Width

Reauleux
Triangle

This car with a non-circular wheel gives a surprisingly smooth

ride. Unlike circular wheels, these wheels don’t have a set
radius but they do have an unchanging diameter. Explore the
magical property of the Reauleux triangle in this activity.

WHAT’S GOING ON?

1. If you put a book on a triangle (or a square) and rotate
it, the book would move up and down. What should you
use to keep the book at the same level? The first choice
is a circle. But can you think of any other shape which
would be of constant width?
2. The car has two different types of wheels. One is circu-
lar, whereas another is formed by rounding the sides of
an equilateral triangle, as shown in the figure 1(a). This
shape is called the Reauleux triangle.

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3. Reauleux triangle is called a curve of constant width. It
means that for every pair of parallel lines touching the
shape without crossing it, it will always have the same
distance from each other, as shown in figure 1b.
4. Add another pair of supporting parallel lines to the old
ones and we obtain a square. The wheel performs a
complete rotation while staying within the square and
at all times touching all four sides of the square (figure
1c).
5. The shaft is also connected to another smaller Reauleux tri-
angle which rotates inside a square. Due to constant width
property, the top of the car smoothly moves at same hori-
zontal level, without up or down movement (Figure 1d).

EXPLORE
1. Take a circular wheel of diameter 7 cm and a Reauleux
triangle, also of width 9 cm. Compare the perimeters
of both shapes.
2. Can you create the constant width shape from the reg-
ular pentagon? Is it necessary that the pentagon should
be regular?
3. People have made real bicycles with Reauleux train-
gles as wheels, literally reinventing the wheel!
4. There are also solids of constant width. The obvious
one is the sphere but if you make a solid by rotating
the Reauleux triangle, the resulting solid would also
of constant width. You can also make the solid of con-
stant width starting from a tetrahedron (Meissner tet-
rahedron).
5. The area of any solid of constant width is π x (height)

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 MONTY HALL
PUZZLE
LEARNINGS
Statistics

Probability

Suppose you’re on a game show, and you’re given the

choice of three doors: behind one door is a car; behind
the others, goats. You pick a door, say Door 1, and the
host, who knows what’s behind the doors, opens anoth-
er door, say No. 3, which has a goat. He then says to
you, “Do you want to stay with Door 1 or do you want
to switch to Door 2?” Is it to your advantage to switch?
The kit contains 3 doors (with hinges) which can be used to
play the game and understand the probability of the event.
This game and the discussion that follows is hugely popular
and counter-intuitive.
WHAT TO DO?
1. Take out the pieces from the sheets and build the three
doors.
2. Act as the game host and one other person can be the par-
ticipant. Place a small car behind one door and toy goats

110
 behind other two. After the arrangement, you must re-
member which gate has the car behind it and which has
a goat.
3. Ask the participant to choose a door. Now open an-
other door (except the one chosen by the participant)
which has the goat behind it.
4. Ask the participant whether he wants to stay or switch
to another door?
5. Repeat the game 10-20 times and note down the out-
come each time.
6. Surprisingly, you would find that the participant who
switches every time wins more games!

WHAT’S GOING ON?

1. For the initial choice the participant makes, the proba-
bility of winning the car is 1/3.
2. The probability that the car is behind one of the re-
maining two doors is 2/3. Now the host, Monty, filters
the remaining doors and opens the one having the goat
behind it.
3. So the probability that the car is behind the last door is
2/3. So we are twice as probable to win if we switch!
4. The Monty Hall problem is popular precisely because
it is both simple and counterintuitive at the same time.
It is named after the host of the American television
show host Let’s Make a Deal where the participants of
the show were offered this choice.
5. At first, it seems that after Monty has opened one door
that has the goat behind it, it doesn’t matter, probabil-
ity-wise, whether you stick to your original choice or
switch to the other door. The probability of winning
seems equal in both cases. But in reality, it is always
better for the participants to switch, if they want to win
the car (If somebody wants the goat, that’s a different
story!).

111
6. You can think about it this way. Monty filters the
doors for you. He always opens the door having the
goat behind it. If you had 100 doors to choose from
and only one door has the car behind it, the chances of
winning are pretty slim (1/100). But once you choose
one door and the host opens all the doors having goats
behind them, now it seems intuitive that switching
is the better option (you would win 99/100 times)

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 LEVER SYSTEM

LEARNINGS
Laws of Lever

Give me a place to stand, and I will move

the world, said Archimedes 2000 years ago.
The Greek mathematician, scientist, and in-
ventor was discussing the principle of lever.
With this model, you may not be able to move the Earth
but you can surely understand the underlying ratios of
force, load, and distance using this simple machine.

WHAT TO DO?
1. Place a unit weight at 5cm mark.
2. Now balance this weight by placing a different
weight on the other side.
3. To balance weights of different amounts on both
sides, how should we place them? Should the
heavier load be closer to the fulcrum or the lighter
load? How much? Explore all this using the model.

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WHAT’S GOING ON?

1. A lever amplifies an input force to provide a greater

output force.
2. The ratio of the output force to the input force is called
the mechanical advantage of the lever.
3. The effort arm is equal to the distance from the ful-
crum to the point of applied effort, and the load arm
is equal to the distance from the fulcrum to the load
weight (which is to be lifted).
4. Effort (force applied by you) multiplied by the length
of the effort arm is equal to the load multiplied by the
length of the load arm.
5. This means that the longer the effort end, the less the
force required to raise the load.
6. Therefore, if you are trying to lift a particular-
ly heavy stone, it is best to use a longer stick.

EXPLORE
1. If two children are playing on a seesaw, and their
weights are different, should the heavier child sit near
the fulcrum or away from it, to balance the seesaw?
2. Take a pipe and hang a bag on it. Now lift the bag
by holding the pipe close to the bag. Guess the weight
of the bag. Now try lifting the same bag by gradually
moving the hand away from the bag. Does the bag feel
heavier? Why? The weight of the bag has surely not
changeed. So why do you need to apply a larger force
to lift the same bag?

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 OPTICAL BENCH

LEARNINGS
Convex Lens

Image
Formation

We often use projectors but seldom know how they work.

This optical bench will help you experiment with the process
of image formation, and understanding the concepts of real
and virtual images, convex lenses and their focal lengths.

OBSERVATION
Examine the slide projector, and use it to produce an image.
Draw a ray diagram show-
ing how the projector produces an image.
What sort of an image is this? How can you tell?
Now use the magnifying glass to produce an image.
Draw a ray diagram to show how this image is formed.
What sort of image is this one?

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WHAT’S GOING ON?
An optical bench typically consists of a long, rigid mem-
ber with a linear scale applied to it. Holders for light
sources, lenses and screens are placed on the apparatus so
that image formation can be observed. In order to repli-
cate the working of a projector, it must be ensured that the
image produced is real (otherwise you wouldn’t be able
to project it onto a screen) inverted and magnified. Thus,
the object is placed upside down and a convex lens is used
for the entire setup - exemplifying exactly what happens
when the object is located between F and 2F of convex
lens.

EXPLORE
Adjust the object and lens such that you can deter-
mine the focal length of the given lens. Move around
the elements of the setup and see where it leads.

Human eye. the image is inverted again in the mind.

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 PERISCOPE

LEARNINGS
Optics

Reflection

Plane mirror

Periscopes have proven to be of great help to submari-

ners by allowing these professions to have a view above
the surface of water and aid in navigation underwater.
Make your own periscope and look beyond the wall!

WHAT’S GOING ON?

1. A periscope is an optical instrument that allows ob-
jects that are not in direct line of sight to be viewed.
2. It works on the law of reflection. The light from the
object falls on one mirror and is reflected.
3. The reflected light then falls on another mirror and is
again reflected and finally reaches the human eye
4. Therefore, the periscope is used to see objects which
are directly not in sight. For example, if you are near a
high wall, you can’t see what’s happening on the other
side of the wall. But you can easily see beyond the
wall using the periscope.
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 SINE WAVE CAR

LEARNINGS
Trigonometry

Definition of
Sine Curve

Length of an
arc

Allow the textbook trigonometry come to life when

the pen draws a sine curve with the movement of the
car. By adapting the mechanism appropriately, the fre-
quency and amplitude of the curve can be changed.

This car is the sine qua non of teaching and learning

trigonometry!

136
WHAT’S GOING ON?
1. The gear fixed on the axle of the car rotates with the
wheels of the car in the same vertical plane.
2. Another gear is joined to this gear in the horizontal
plane.
3. A circular disc is attached with this gear on the top.
Therefore, this disc rotates in the horizontal plane
when the car moves in any direction.
4. The stick on the disc moves the module on the top (on
which the pen is attached) in a straight line.
5. So the car moves forward and the pen moves in a
perpendicular direction to it. So theoretically, the car
could make any curve. So why does it make the sine
curve?
6. Because it is the definition of a sine curve. When the
wheel of the car moves θ, the car moves rθ (r is the
radius of the wheel) in the forward direction. And the
module shifts Rsinθ (R is the radius of the top disc)
in the perpendicular direction to the motion of the car
7. The pen, therefore, draws the graph of Rsinθ
vs rθ which is a sine curve. (y = Rsinθ ; x = rθ
y = R. sin(x/r) which is the equation of a sine curve.
EXPLORE
1. Try changing the amplitude and frequency of the curve.
What effect would you see on the curve if the wheels
of the car were made smaller?
2. How does the gear ratio (ratio of number of teeth of
two gears) affect the frequency of curve?

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 TRIANGULAR WAVE
CAR

LEARNINGS
Trigonometry

Length of an
arc

Trigonometry, LIVE. Sounds vague, doesn’t it? Before

you say no, pointing out to the many applications of
trigonometry in real life; here we are talking about wit-
nessing a triangular wave live in action with the help of
a car no less!

144
WHAT’S GOING ON?
1. The gear fixed on the axle of the car rotates with the
wheels of the car in the same vertical plane.
2. Another gear is joined to this gear in the horizontal
plane.
3. A circular (sector of a circle) disc is attached with this
gear on the top. Therefore, this disc rotates in the hori-
zontal plane when the car moves in any direction.
4. The stick on the disc moves the module on the top (on
which the pen is attached) in a straight line.
5. So the car moves forward and the pen moves in a
perpendicular direction to it. So theoretically, the car
could make any curve. So why does it make the trian-
gular curve?
6. When the wheel of the car moves θ, the car moves rθ
(r is the radius of the wheel) in the forward direction.
And the module shifts Rθ (R is the radius of the top
disc) in the perpendicular direction to the motion of
the car.
7. The pen, therefore, draws the graph of Rθ vs
rθ which is a triangular curve (y = Rθ ; x = rθ
y = R. (x/r) = (R/r). x, which is the equation of a
straight line)

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 CYCLOID CAR

LEARNINGS
Trigonometry

Circle

Rolling of a
Circle

This car shows the curve traced by a point on the circumfer-

ence of a wheel when it rolls on the ground. This is just ex-
tremely satisfying to watch and the curves generated are a treat
to the eyes!
WHAT’S GOING ON?
1. A cycloid is the curve traced by a point on the rim of a cir-
cular wheel as the wheel rolls along a straight line.
2. In the car, the cycloid curve is generated when the length of
the rotating stick is equal to the diameter of the car wheel.
3. You can also change the length of the rotating stick holding
the pen and get different kinds of curves (called trochoids).

EXPLORE
In this case, the gears connecting the axle and the rotating disc
have same number of teeth. What would happen to the curve if
the number of teeth in both gears is different?

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 STRAIGHT LINE
DRAWER
LEARNINGS
Gear System

How do you draw a perfectly straight line by just rotating

some gears? Rotate the handle and get ready to be amazed
as the pen traces a straight line!
Vertex, Edges and Faces of Polyhedron

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WHAT’S GOING ON?
1. The first gear is fixed at one place and the second and
third gears revolve around it.
2. The second gear is half in size as compared to the first
gear (the number of teeth in second gear are half of
that in first gear).
3. Therefore, if these two gears were fixed at one place,
the second gear would have rotated twice as much as
the first gear.
4. The second gear is also going around the first gear.
As the direction of rotation and revolution is same, the
total rotations of the second gear in a single journey
around the first gear: 2+1 = 3.
5. This means that the second gear rotates three times in
one revolution around the first gear.
6. The third gear also goes around the first gear. In this
case, the direction of rotation and revolution is oppo-
site. Therefore, total number of rotations: -2 + 1 = -1.
7. This means that the third gear rotates one time in one
revolution around the first gear, and in opposite direc-
tion.
8. The pen is also connected to the third gear
and hence rotates once. It also moves in
a straight line during this one rotation.

EXPLORE
Change the distance of the pen from the center of the third
gear and see if it still draws a straight line.

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 VERTICAL PEN
STAND
LEARNINGS
Magnetism

Simple
Harmonic
Motion

Stability

A magical pen stand - pen stands straight on its tip.

Use the pen and then leave it rotating on its tip on this
pen stand!

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WHAT’S GOING ON?
1. The magnets of the pen stand and the pen are placed
such that they attract each other.
2. This means that the opposite poles of the magnet
(north-south) face each other.
3. How much should be the force of attraction between
the magnets to keep the pen vertical? In first look, it
looks like the magnetic force should be equal to the
weight of the pen.
4. But the magnet is not supporting the weight of the pen.
It is just bringing it back to the upright position when-
ever the pen tilts.
5. When the pen is standing exactly straight on the
ground, there is no force required as the force of grav-
ity is balanced by the reaction force from the ground.
6. This is similar to a person standing on the ground.
There is no force required to stand straight. But as
soon as the person tilts to one side, he needs a force to
bring him back to upright position.
7. Similarly, the top magnet brings back the pen
in upright position whenever it tries to move
away. Therefore the magnetic force required
is much smaller than the weight of the pen.

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 PULLEY SYSTEM

LEARNINGS
Tension

Mechanical
Advantage

The pulley is a wheel and an axle with a rope going over

it. You can put this mechanical advantage to use when you
have more than one pulley working together. More the num-
ber of pulleys you use, lesser the amount of effort it takes to
lift something. The trade-off is that you have to pull the rope
proportionately more.

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WHAT’S GOING ON?
Whenever you have to lift a heavy load, say up to the second
floor of a building. You could tie a rope to the load, stand
on the second floor, and pull it straight up. Or you could
put a pulley at the second floor, stand at the first floor, and
lift the load by pulling straight down. It would be the ex-
act amount of work in either case, but the action of pulling
down feels easier because you’re working with the force of
gravity. While a single pulley allows you to move a load
with half the force required, a system of pulleys increases
the mechanical advantage by the number of pulleys and the
length of rope that supports the load. As you increase the
number of pulleys, you also increase the distance you have
to pull the rope. In other words, if you use two pulleys, it
takes half the effort to lift something, but you have to pull
the rope twice as far. Three pulleys will result in one-third
the effort — but the distance you have to pull the rope is tri-
pled! The length of the rope that supports the load in a mul-
tiple pulley system basically corresponds to the mechanical
advantage of the system.

EXPLORE
Tie the rope to one of the brooms (broom 1) and wrap the
rope around the other broom (broom 2). Have two students
stand about a meter apart each holding one broom, and try
to keep the brooms separated while the third student pulls
on the free end of the rope; it should be a difficult task to
pull the broom sticks together. Next, wrap the rope around
each of the brooms again. Try again to pull the students/
brooms together; the more times you wrap the rope around
the brooms, the easier it is for the third student to pull the
others together! This is the power of mechanical advantage!

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 GEAR LAMP

LEARNINGS
Gear
Mechanism

Mechanical
Advantage

Circular to
Linear Motion

Dynamic
Mechanism Gear Lamp is a mechanical model designed for self-as-
sembly, without any glue. This unique lamp has incor-
porated various interesting mechanisms. Indulge in the
engaging and rewarding experience to build this lamp in
a group!

WHAT’S GOING ON?

1. .The gear system in the lamp is arranged in such a way
that it gives mechanical advantage during the motion
of the lamp. The handle is attached to a small gear
which in turn is connected to larger gears.
2. The whole arm containing the gears also moves along
with movements at joints.
3. When the arm rises, the angle of the lamp holder also
changes, all from a single source of rotation.

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EXPLORE
Calculate the gear ratio for every gear combination in-
volved in the model. The gear attached to the handle is 4
times smaller than the next connected gear. Therefore, the
gear ratio is 4. Similarly, the next gear assembly has a gear
ratio of 4. So overall the gear lamp has a gear ratio of 4 x
4 = 16.

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63 64

65

193
66 67

68 69

70 71

194
72 73

74 75

76
77

195
78

79 80

196
81 82

83 84

85 86

197
 87

88 89

90 91

198
92 93

94 95

96

199
 97

98

200
 DUAL OF CUBE

LEARNINGS
3D shapes

Polyhedrons

Vertex, Edges
and Faces of
Polyhedron

If you join the center of the faces of a cube, you get

the octahedron which is another Platonic solid. This
means that the dual of an cube is octahedron.

WHAT’S GOING ON?

FACES VERTICES EDGES

SOLID
6 8 12

DUEL
8 6 12

201
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2 3

202
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6 7

8 9

203
 DUAL OF
OCTAHEDRON
LEARNINGS
3D shapes

Polyhedrons

Vertex, Edges
and Faces of
Polyhedron

If you join the center of the faces of an octahedron,

you get the cube which is another Platonic solid. This
means that the dual of an octahedron is cube.

WHAT’S GOING ON?

FACES VERTICES EDGES

SOLID
8 6 12

DUEL
6 8 12

204
EXPLORE
The solid obtained by joining the center of the faces of
a polyhedron is called its dual structure. If you join the
center of the faces of a cube, you get a structure called oc-
tahedron which is another Platonic solid. This means that
the dual of a cube is octahedron.

For any two dual structures, the number of faces and verti-
ces is swapped, and the number of edges is same.

205
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2 3

206
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6 7

8 9

207
 DUAL OF
TETRAHEDRON
LEARNINGS
3D shapes

Polyhedrons

Vertex, Edges
and Faces of
Polyhedron

If you join the center of the faces of a tetrahedron, you again

get a (smaller) tetrahedron. Therefore, the dual of tetrahedron
is a tetrahedron.

WHAT’S GOING ON?

FACES VERTICES EDGES

SOLID
8 6 12

DUEL
6 8 12
EXPLORE
Find out other polyhedrons which are self-duals.

208
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2 3

209
4 5

6 7

8 9

210
 DUAL OF
DODECAHEDRON
LEARNINGS
3D shapes

Polyhedrons

Vertex, Edges
and Faces of
Polyhedron

If you join the center of the faces of a dodecahedron,

you get the icosahedron which is another Platonic solid.
This means that the dual of an dodecahedron is icosa-
hedron.

WHAT’S GOING ON?

FACES VERTICES EDGES

SOLID
12 20 30

DUEL
20 12 30

211
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2 3

212
4 5

6 7

8 9

213
 DUAL OF
ICOSAHEDRON
LEARNINGS
3D shapes

Polyhedrons

Vertex, Edges
and Faces of
Polyhedron

If you join the center of the faces of an icosahedron, you

get the dodecahedron which is another Platonic solid. This
means that the dual of an icosahedron is dodecahedron.
WHAT’S GOING ON?

FACES VERTICES EDGES

SOLID
20 12 30

DUEL
12 20 30

214
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2 3

215
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6 7

8 9

216
 ARCHIMEDEAN
SOLIDS (13)
LEARNINGS
3D shapes

Polyhedrons
Dihedral
Angles
Vertex, Edges
and Faces of
Polyhedron

In geometry, an Archimedean solid is one of the 13

solids first enumerated by Archimedes. They are
polyhedrons composed of regular polygons meeting in
identical vertices.

217
WHAT TO DO?
Fold the given GSM paper nets on the lines and stick them
together using by applying glue to the provided flaps.

WHAT’S GOING ON?

1. 2000 years ago, Archimedes made a list of polyhe-
drons composed of regular polygons as faces with ver-
tex symmetry.
2. Surprisingly, he could only find 13 solids which satis-
fy these two conditions.
3. In all the Archimedean solids, exactly same number
and type of polygons are joined at all the vertices, at
same dihedral angles (angle between two faces).
4. For example, in a truncated tetrahedron, two hexagons
and a triangle meet at all the twelve vertices.

218
 TRUNCATED
TETRAHEDRON
LEARNINGS
3D shapes

Polyhedrons
Dihedral
Angles
Vertex, Edges
and Faces of
Polyhedron
The truncated tetrahedron is created by truncating the ver-
tices off a tetrahedron. Make this Archimedean solid using
the net provided and study its properties.
WHAT’S GOING ON?
1. A tetrahedron has three triangles joining at each vertex.
2. If you cut the vertices at one-third of the original edge
length, you get equilateral triangles in place of original
vertices of tetrahedron and hexagons in place of origi-
nal faces. Cutting the edges to one-third is called regular
truncation.
3. Therefore, a truncated tetrahedron has four triangular
faces and four hexagonal faces.
4. The are total 8 faces, 12 vertices, and 18 edges. Two
hexagons and a triangle are meeting at each vertex.
5. There are 4 more faces on the truncated tetrahedron
(compared to a regular tetrahedron) due to the four cuts
made.
6. The number of vertices and edges are multiplied by three
due to the addition of equilateral triangles.
219
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2 3

4 5

220
6 7

221
 TRUNCATED CUBE

LEARNINGS
3D shapes

Polyhedrons

Dihedral
Angles

Vertex, Edges
The truncated cube is an Archimedean solid obtained by
and Faces of
cutting the vertices of a cube.
Polyhedron
WHAT’S GOING ON?
1. A cube has three squares joining at each vertex.
2. If you cut the vertices at one-third of the original edge
length, you get equilateral triangles in place of original
vertices of cube and octagons in place of original faces.
Cutting the edges to one-third is called regular trunca-
tion.
3. Therefore, a truncated cube has eight triangular faces
and six octagonal faces.
4. The are total 14 faces, 24 vertices, and 36 edges. Two
octagons and a triangle are meeting at each vertex.
5. There are 8 more faces on the truncated cube (compared
to a regular cube) due to the eight cuts made.
6. The number of vertices and edges are multiplied by three
due to the addition of equilateral triangles.

222
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3 4

223
6 7

224
 TRUNCATED
OCTAHEDRON

LEARNINGS
3D shapes

Polyhedrons
Dihedral
Angles
Vertex, Edges
and Faces of
Polyhedron
The truncated octahedron is an Archimedean solid which
has two hexagons and a square meeting at each vertex. It if
formed by cutting off each vertex of an octahedron.

WHAT’S GOING ON?

EXPLORE 1. An octahedron has four triangles joining at each vertex.
Find out why a 2. If you cut the vertices at one-third of the original edge
truncated cube length, you get squares in place of original vertices of
and truncated octahedron and hexagons in place of original faces. Cut-
octahedron ting the edges to one-third is called regular truncation.
have same 3. Therefore, a truncated octahedron has six square faces
number of and eight hexagonal faces.
faces, vertices 4. There are total 14 faces, 24 vertices, and 36 edges (exact-
and edges. ly same as truncated cube). Two hexagons and a square
are meeting at each vertex
5. There are 8 more faces on the truncated cube (compared
to a regular cube) due to the four cuts made.
6. The number of vertices and edges are multiplied by four
due to the addition of squares.

225
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2 3

4 5

226
 6

227
 TRUNCATED
DODECAHEDRON
LEARNINGS
3D shapes

Polyhedrons
Dihedral
Angles
Vertex, Edges
and Faces of The truncated dodecahedron is an Archimedean solid. This
Polyhedron polyhedron is formed from a dodecahedron by truncating
(cutting off) the corners so that the pentagon faces become
decagons and the corners become triangles.
WHAT’S GOING ON?
1. A dodecahedron has three pentagons joining at each ver-
tex.
2. If you cut the vertices at one-third of the original edge
length, you get triangles in place of original vertices of
dodecahedron and decagons in place of original pentag-
onal faces. Cutting the edges to one-third is called regu-
lar truncation.
3. Therefore, a truncated dodecahedron has 12 decagonal
faces and 20 triangular faces.
4. The are total 32 faces, 60 vertices, and 90 edges. Two
decagons and a triangle are meeting at each vertex.
5. There are 12 more faces on the truncated cube (com-
pared to a regular dodecahedron) due to the twelve cuts
made.
6. The number of vertices and edges are multiplied by three
due to the addition of triangles.
228
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2 3

229
 4

5 6

230
 TRUNCATED
ICOSAHEDRON

LEARNINGS
3D shapes

Polyhedrons

Dihedral Angles
Vertex, Edges
and Faces of Perhaps the best-known example of a spherical polyhedron,
Polyhedron this structure is found in footballs. The ball comprises of 12
pentagons and 20 hexagons.
WHAT’S GOING ON?
1. An icosahedron has five triangles joining at each ver-
tex.
2. If you cut the vertices at one-third of the original edge
length, you get pentagons in place of original vertices
of icosahedron and hexagons in place of original faces.
Cutting the edges to one-third is called regular trunca-
tion.
3. Therefore, a truncated icosahedron has 12 pentagonal
faces and 20 hexagonal faces.
4. The are total 32 faces, 60 vertices, and 90 edges (ex-
actly same as truncated icosahedron). Two hexagons and
a pentagon are meeting at each vertex.
5. There are 12 more faces on the truncated icosahedron
(compared to a regular icosahedron) due to the four cuts
made.
6. The number of vertices and edges are multiplied by five
due to the addition of squares.
231
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2 3

4 5

232
6 7

233
 CUBOCTAHEDRON

A cuboctahedron
is created by rec-
tifying a cube (or
an octahedron).
It has 8 triangu-
lar faces and 6
square faces.

WHAT’S GOING ON?

1. If you cut the vertices of a cube at half of the original edge
length, you get equilateral triangles in place of original
LEARNINGS
vertices of cube. You get smaller squares in place of the
3D shapes original squares of the cube. Cutting the edges to half is
called rectification.
Polyhedrons 2. Therefore, a cuboctahedron has eight triangular faces and
six square faces.
Dihedral Angles 3. The are total 14 faces, 12 vertices, and 24 edges. Two
Vertex, Edges triangles and two squares meeting at each vertex.
and Faces of 4. There are 8 more faces on the cuboctahedron (compared
Polyhedron to a regular cube) due to the eight cuts made.
5. The number of edges in cuboctahedron (24) is triple the
number of vertices in cube (8) as each vertex is converted
in a triangle, producing three edges for one vertex. The
original edges are destroyed in this process.
6. The number of vertices is also tripled due to formation
of equilateral triangle at each vertex. But two of these
vertices combine together. So the number of vertices in
cuboctahedron = 24/2 = 12.
234
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22 43

43 55

235
 6

7 8

236
 RHOMBICUBOCTAHEDRON

LEARNINGS
3D shapes

Polyhedrons

Dihedral Angles
Vertex, Edges
and Faces of
Polyhedron
Johannes Kepler (famous for laws of planetary motion)
named this polyhedron a rhombicuboctahedron - short for
truncated cuboctahedral rhombus. This solid is made by
truncating the cuboctahedron to one-third of its original
edge length.

The first printed version of the rhombicuboctahedron was

by Leonardo and appeared in Pacioli’s work who was collab-
orator of Da Vinci.
WHAT’S GOING ON?
1. A cuboctahedron has 12 vertices, with 2 triangles and 2
squares meeting at each vertex.
2. If you cut the vertices of cuboctahedron at half of the
original edge length, you get squares in place of original
vertices of cuboctahedron. The original squares and tri-
angles of cuboctahedron retain their shape but become
smaller.

237
3. These 12 squares, along with 6 original squares, make
a total of 18 squares. The number of triangles remain
unchanged at 8.
4. There are total 26 faces, 24 vertices and 48 edges.
Three squares and a triangle are meeting at each ver-
tex.
5. The number of edges in rhombicuboctahedron (48) is
four times the number of vertices in cuboctahedron
(12) as each vertex is converted in a square, producing
four edges for one vertex. The original edges are de-
stroyed in this process.
6. The number of vertices also becomes four times due to
formation of squares at each vertex. But two of these
vertices combine together. So the number of vertices
in rhombicuboctahedron = 48/2 = 24.

238
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2 3

4 5

239
 6

240
 RHOMBICOSIDODECAHEDRON

LEARNINGS
3D shapes

Polyhedrons

Dihedral Angles
Vertex, Edges
and Faces of
Polyhedron

Johannes Kepler (famous for laws of planetary motion)

named this polyhedron a rhombicuboctahedron - short for
truncated cuboctahedral rhombus. This solid is made by
truncating the cuboctahedron to one-third of its original
edge length.
The first printed version of the rhombicuboctahedron was
by Leonardo and appeared in Pacioli’s work who was collab-
orator of Da Vinci.

241
WHAT’S GOING ON?
1. A cuboctahedron has 12 vertices, with 2 triangles and
2 squares meeting at each vertex.
2. If you cut the vertices of cuboctahedron at half of the
original edge length, you get squares in place of orig-
inal vertices of cuboctahedron. The original squares
and triangles of cuboctahedron retain their shape but
become smaller.
3. These 12 squares, along with 6 original squares, make
a total of 18 squares. The number of triangles remain
unchanged at 8.
4. There are total 26 faces, 24 vertices and 48 edges.
Three squares and a triangle are meeting at each ver-
tex.
5. The number of edges in rhombicuboctahedron (48) is
four times the number of vertices in cuboctahedron
(12) as each vertex is converted in a square, producing
four edges for one vertex. The original edges are de-
stroyed in this process.
6. The number of vertices also becomes four times due to
formation of squares at each vertex. But two of these
vertices combine together. So the number of vertices
in rhombicuboctahedron = 48/2 = 24.

EXPLORE
1. The 2nd order rectification (cutting twice at half of the
original edge length) is also called cantellation. There-
fore, the rhombicuboctahedron can also be called a
cantellated cube or octahedron.
2. Rhombicuboctahedron can also be constructed as an
expanded cube (the six faces of cube are expanded and
the gap is filled with squares and triangles) or an ex-
panded octahedron.

242
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243
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6 7

8 9

244
 TRUNCATED
CUBOCTAHEDRON
LEARNINGS
3D shapes

Polyhedrons

Dihedral Angles
Vertex, Edges
and Faces of
Polyhedron

The truncated cuboctahedron is also named by Kepler

as a truncation of a cuboctahedron. It has 12 square
faces, 8 hexagonal faces, 6 octagonal faces, 48 vertices
and 72 edges.

245
WHAT’S GOING ON?
1. A cuboctahedron has 12 vertices, with 2 triangles and
2 squares meeting at each vertex.
2. If you cut the vertices of cuboctahedron at one-third of
the original edge length, you get 12 squares in place
of original vertices of cuboctahedron. The original
squares and triangles of cuboctahedron become octa-
hedron’s and hexagons respectively.
3. Therefore, a truncated cuboctahedron has 12 squares,
8 hexagonal and 6 octagonal faces.
4. There are total 26 faces, 48 vertices and 72 edges. A
square, hexagon and an octagon are meeting at each
vertex.
5. As each of the 12 vertices of cuboctahedron is con-
verted in a square, you get 4 edges for each vertex of
cuboctahedron. And the original 24 edges are also in-
tact. Therefore, number of edges in truncated cuboc-
tahedron (72) = (12 x 4) + 24.
6. Each of the 12 vertices also produces four vertices af-
ter truncation. And the original vertices are destroyed
in this process. So the number of vertices in truncated
cuboctahedron = 12 x 4 = 48.

246
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3 4

5 6

247
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8 9

248
 ICOSIDODECAHEDRON

LEARNINGS
3D shapes

Polyhedrons

Dihedral Angles
Vertex, Edges
and Faces of
Polyhedron

An icosidodecahedron is an Archimedean solid with twenty

(icosi) triangular faces and twelve (dodeca) pentagonal fac-
es. An icosidodecahedron has 30 identical vertices, with two
triangles and two pentagons meeting at each, and 60 edges

WHAT’S GOING ON?

1. An icosahedron has five triangles joining at each vertex.
2. If you cut the vertices at half of the original edge length,
you get pentagons in place of original vertices of icosa-
hedron. You get smaller triangles in place of the origi-
nal triangles of icosahedron. Cutting the edges to half is
called rectification.
3. Therefore, a cuboctahedron has 12 pentagonal faces and
20 triangular faces.
4. The are total 32 faces, 30 vertices, and 60 edges. Two
pentagons and two triangles are meeting at each vertex.

249
5. There are 12 more faces on the icosidodecahedron
(compared to a regular icosahedron) due to the twelve
cuts made.
6. The number of edges in icosidodecahedron (60) is five
times the number of vertices in icosahedron (12) as
each vertex is converted in a triangle, producing three
edges for one vertex. The original edges are destroyed
in this process.
7. The number of vertices is also tripled due to formation
of pentagons at each vertex. But two of these vertices
combine together. So the number of vertices in icosi-
dodecahedron= 60/2 = 30.

250
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4 5

251
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252
 TRUNCATED
ICOSIDODECHAHEDRON

LEARNINGS
3D shapes

Polyhedrons

Dihedral Angles
Vertex, Edges
and Faces of
Polyhedron
The name truncated icosidodecahedron, given originally by
Johannes Kepler, is misleading. An actual truncation of a
icosidodecahedron has rectangles instead of squares. This
nonuniform polyhedron is topologically equivalent to the
Archimedean solid

WHAT’S GOING ON?

1. An icosidodecahedron has 30 vertices, with 2 pentagons
and 2 triangles meeting at each vertex.
2. If you cut the vertices of icosidodecahedron at one-third
of the original edge length, you get 12 squares in place
of original vertices of icosidodecahedron. The original
pentagons and triangles of icosidodecahedron become
decagons and hexagons respectively.
3. Therefore, a truncated icosidodecahedron has 30 squares,
20 hexagonal and 12 decagonal faces.
4. There are total 62 faces, 120 vertices and 180 edges.
253
5. As each of the 30 vertices of icosidodecahedron is
converted in a square, you get 4 edges for each vertex
of icosidodecahedron . And the original 60 edges are
also intact. Therefore, number of edges in truncated
cuboctahedron (180) = (30 x 4) + 60.
6. Each of the 30 vertices also produces four
vertices after truncation. And the original
vertices are destroyed in this process. So the
number of vertices in cuboctahedron = 30 x 4 = 120.

254
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4 5

255
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7 8

256
 SNUB CUBE

LEARNINGS
3D shapes

Polyhedrons

Dihedral Angles
Vertex, Edges
and Faces of
Polyhedron

The final two Archimedean solids are created by

moving the faces of an existing Platonic solid outward
while giving each face a twist. The snub cube is made
from a cube by pulling the square faces outward.

257
WHAT’S GOING ON?
1. A cube has three squares joining at each vertex.
2. If you cut the vertices at half of the original edge
length, you get equilateral triangles in place of origi-
nal vertices of cube. You get smaller squares in place
of the original squares of the cube. Cutting the edges
to half is called rectification.
3. Therefore, a cuboctahedron has eight triangular faces
and six square faces.
4. The are total 14 faces, 12 vertices, and 24 edges. Two
triangles and two squares meeting at each vertex.
5. There are 8 more faces on the cuboctahedron (com-
pared to a regular cube) due to the eight cuts made.
6. The number of edges in cuboctahedron (24) is triple
the number of vertices in cube (8) as each vertex is
converted in a triangle, producing three edges for one
vertex. The original edges are destroyed in this pro-
cess.
7. The number of vertices is also tripled due to formation
of equilateral triangle at each vertex. But two of these
vertices combine together. So the number of vertices
in cuboctahedron = 24/2 = 12.
EXPLORE
1. The cuboctahedron can also be obtained by cutting the
vertices of an octahedron at half of the original edge
length.
2. In the Star Trek episode “By Any Other Name”, aliens
seize the Enterprise by transforming crew members
into inanimate cuboctahedron.
3. The ”Geo Twister” fidget toy is a flexible cuboctahe-
dron. You can also make this toy by using kebab sticks
and cycle valve tubes.
4. The Coriolis space stations in the computer game se-
ries Elite are cuboctahedron-shaped.

258
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3 44

5 6

259
7

260
 SNUB
DODECAHEDRON
LEARNINGS
3D shapes

Polyhedrons

Dihedral Angles
Vertex, Edges
and Faces of
Polyhedron

The snub dodecahedron is constructed from a dodecahedron

by pulling the pentagonal faces outward.

WHAT’S GOING ON?

1. A dodecahedron has 12 pentagonal faces.
2. Pull the faces outward so that they no longer
touch. Rotate all the pentagons (all clockwise or all
counterclockwise) such that the spaces between them
can be filled with equilateral triangles.
3. The resulting polyhedron is called snub dodecahedron.
4. There are total 92 faces, 60 vertices and 150 edges. Four
triangles and a pentagon are meeting at each vertex.

261
EXPLORE
Both of the snub polyhedrons (snub cube and snub dodeca-
hedron) are known as chiral solids. Chiral means that the
solids have different forms of handedness which are not
mirror-symmetric. Depending on whether you twist the
square faces clockwise or counterclockwise, you get two
different solids. One form is called left-handed, and the
other form is called right-handed.

262
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263
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264
 NON-TRANSITIVE DICE

LEARNINGS
Probability

Out of the 3 dice, you can always find a dice which can
beat the other one!
In this case, Dice A will beat Dice B, Dice B will
beat Dice C but Dice C will beat Dice A. Learn about
non-transitive relations using this amazing dice game!

WHAT TO DO?

1. Take out the pieces from the sheet and make two sets
of dice A, B, and C.
2. For the first part of the game, take only one set (one
dice of each kind - A, B and C) and keep the second
set aside
3. The first player chooses any one dice from the set and
second player would choose from the remaining dice.
4. Both players roll their dice. The player who rolls the
higher number wins.
265
5. Play this game atleast 20 times. Note down the win-
ning dice each time.
6. Try other combinations of dice (A vs B, B vs C and C
vs A) and find out which dice is most powerful.
WHAT’S GOING ON?
1. The dice A, B and C are called non-transitive
dice. A set of dice is non-transitive if A is better
than B, B is better than C but then C is better than
A. So the order of the dice is cyclic and there is no
single dice which can trump the other two dice.
A>B>C>A

C B

2. This is like the game of rock-paper-scissors where

scissors can win over paper, rock over scissors and
then paper over rock. Just like our dice, no option is
the best in this game.
266
3. If we calculate the probability of A winning over
B (and B over C and C over A), it is 7/12. It can be
seen by drawing the different outcomes of the dice
and seeing which dice would win in each outcome.

A C CANCE
5/12
1/2 2 C WINS

3
5/6 1/2 5 A WINS

2 C WINS
1/12
1/2
1/6
6
1/2 5 C WINS 1/12

4. Now take the second set also in the game. Now you
have two copies of each dice A, B, and C. Now each
player chooses two dice (both of them should be same.
For example, a player can choose both A dice but can’t
choose one A and one B dice).
5. The sum of two dice would be compared for both the
players. In this case, we would see that the cyclic order
would get reverses! This means that now A<B<C<A

EXPLORE
Find out about other non-transitive dice and then make
your own set.

267
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8 9

269
 STACK IT UP

LEARNINGS
Critical
Thinking

Logical
Reasoning

Permutation
&Combination

Spatial
Cognition This puzzle was invented in 1960s and has sold 20 million
copies so far under the name “Instant Insanity”. The puz-
zle consists of 4 cubes painted in 4 colors which have to be
stacked in a column such that each side of column has all
4 colors.

270
WHAT’S GOING ON?
1. You have four cubes with four different colors on each
cube. And you have to stack the cubes in a column
such that there is a different color on the all the four
sides of the column.
2. With 24 positions of each cube (6 faces and 4 posi-
tions), it makes a total of 3,31,776 possible arrange-
ments (24x24x24x24).
3. Clearly, lot of trial and error is required to get to the
solution but there is a way to solve this in eight moves
or less by applying graph theory!

EXPLORE
You can create your own version of the puzzle by
coloring the cubes differently. The only constraint
is that all cubes should have at least four colors.
But out of all these possible versions, only 10% are
solvable. So make your puzzle and try your luck!

271
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3 4

5 6

272
 HANDSHAKE
PUZZLE
LEARNINGS
Spatial
Thinking

Logical
Reasoning

Hand Eye
Coordination

From a TV show host to a sweating Professor to a chimpan-

zee - it took an entire decade before anybody could solve this
Japanese ring puzzle. The challenge of the puzzle is to transfer
the handshake ring from Student to Teacher. Happy puzzling!

WHAT’S GOING ON?

1. If you see carefully, the rope goes through the hole to
the other side but again comes back to the initial side of
the partition.
2. Therefore, it looks impossible at first, but if you keep at
it, you will surely succeed!

273
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2 3

274
4 5

6 7

275
 RING ROPE PUZZLE

LEARNINGS
Binary
Counting

Power of
Exponent

Logical
Reasoning

Spatial
Thinking The goal of the puzzle is to remove the rope
from structure. The challenge sounds easy but it
Hand Eye takes a lot of thinking and playing to solve this!
Coordination This puzzle is called Baguenaudier puzzle. The word “ba-
guenaudier” means “time-waster” in French. Culin (1965)
attributes the puzzle to Chinese general Hung Ming (around
200 A.D.), who gave it to his wife as a present to occupy her
while he was away at the wars.

276
WHAT’S GOING ON?
1. The goal is to remove the rope from the puzzle.
2. This is called a disentanglement puzzle, a type of me-
chanical puzzle that involves disentangling one piece
of puzzle from another. The reverse problem of reas-
sembling the puzzle can be as hard as—or even harder
than—disentanglement.
3. A similar puzzle involving disentangling rings from
a rod was originally used by French peasants to lock
their suitcases.

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 ARROW SLIDING
PUZZLE
LEARNINGS
Spatial
Thinking

Logical
Reasoning

Hand Eye
Coordination

Slide the pieces and make all the arrows point outwards.
Interestingly, all the pieces and cells are not the same,
which restricts your sliding. Enjoy puzzling!

WHAT TO DO?
1. At the beginning, all the nine pieces are contained in
a 3 x 3 grid with arrows pointing inwards.
2. The challenge is to slide the pieces so that all the ar-
rows point outwards.
3. You can only slide the pieces to the empty cells. No-
tice that there are two types of cells in the puzzle - (i)
9 square-shaped cells in 3 x 3 grid and (ii) 2 square
cells with rounded corners at the top and bottom of
the grid.
4. The puzzle pieces are also of two types. Among the
total nine pieces, only 3 have rounded corners which
can fit into the top and bottom cells.
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 3 PYRAMIDS TO
CUBE
LEARNINGS
Volume of a
Pyramid

Volume of a
Cube

The cube can be made using 3 identical pyramids whose

volume is 1/3rd of the cube.
WHAT’S GOING ON?
1. The three pyramids forming a cube are identical in
shape and size. Let’s assume that the side of the cube
formed by them is 1 unit length.
2. The base of all three pyramids is a square (sides of the
square is equal to the side of the cube) and the height
of the pyramid is also equal to the side of the cube.
3. The volume of a pyramid is 1/3 x (area of base) x
height. Therefore, the volume of one pyramid = 1/3 x
(1 x 1 ) x 1 = 1/3.
4. The pyramids are not right pyramids (pyramids whose
apex is above the midpoint of the base).

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EXPLORE
1. The square pyramids have four triangular faces. What
is the length of the sides of these triangles?
2. There are two types of triangles - the first type of trian-
gle has sides (1, 1, √2) and the other one has sides (1,
√2, √3). Can you identify these two type of triangles in
the model?
3. All the triangles forming the pyramids are right trian-
gles!

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 6 PYRAMIDS TO
CUBE
LEARNINGS
Volume of a
Pyramid and
Cube

Pythagoras
Theorem

The six identical pyramids combine to form a cube - which

means that volume of one pyramid is 1/6th of the cube.

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WHAT’S GOING ON?
1. Imagine joining all the vertices of the cube to its cen-
ter. This will result in dissecting the cube in 6 identical
pyramids.
2. The six pyramids forming a cube are identical in shape
and size. Let’s assume that the side of the cube formed
by them is 1 unit length.
3. The base of all six pyramids is a square (sides of the
square is equal to the side of the cube) and the height
of the pyramid is equal to half of the side of the cube.
4. The volume of a pyramid is 1/3 x (area of base) x
height. Therefore, the volume of one pyramid = 1/3 x
(1 x 1 ) x 1/2 = 1/6.
5. These pyramids are right pyramids (pyramids whose
apex is above the midpoint of the base).

EXPLORE
1. If you invert the six pyramids such that the cube opens
inside out, the resulting structure is a rhombic dodeca-
hedron (two triangles come in same place to form
rhombuses). This structure will also have a hollow
cube inside it. Therefore, the volume of the rhombic
dodecahedron is double that of the cube.
2. Find out the length of the triangles making the
pyramids (assuming that the side of the cube to be 1
unit).
3. You can also make the cube using six triangular
pyramids. Try making these pyramids for yourself.

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