Chopped Dice

Can you make a new type of fair die with 14 faces by shaving the corners off a cube?
Age
14 to 16
Challenge level
filled star empty star empty star
Exploring and noticing Working systematically Conjecturing and generalising Visualising and representing Reasoning, convincing and proving
Being curious Being resourceful Being resilient Being collaborative

Problem

Alison and Steve wish to make a new sort of die which can land on its faces and its corners. 

 

They plan to start with a cube and make planar cuts across the corners to create a solid which, when rolled, has a good chance of landing on the 'corners' and the 'faces'

 

Consider designing such a die such that it is symmetrical -- i.e. each corner is to be cut off in the same way.

 

How many faces would the die have and what shape would they each be?

 

Draw a net of a cube and indicate accurately the lines along which the cuts are to be made.

 

Where would you align the cuts such that each of the new faces was of the same area?

 

Collaboration/cross curricular activity: Suppose that we wish to make a physical die of this sort such that there are equal probabilities of landing on each  of the 'faces' and 'corners'. Discuss with DT the possible construction of such a die and plan a way of producing the die.