Polyhedra: Platonic Solids

Platonic solids are symmetrical shapes once thought to be the universe's building blocks. Named after Plato, these polyhedra are made of polygons with interior angles totaling less than 360° at vertices. Only five shapes meet the criteria of having identical angles, edges, and vertices, making them symmetrical. Plato associated these solids with elements: tetrahedron with fire, cube with Earth, octahedron with air, icosahedron with water, and dodecahedron with the cosmos. Despite modern knowledge, Platonic solids remain mathematically intriguing.

List the five Platonic solids and the elements Plato associated with each.

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Why did Plato believe that Platonic solids were the building blocks of the universe?

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