# Name of a solid object. **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 16, 2017, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-of-a-solid-object/777329 "2017-01-16T18:50:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2017, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-of-a-solid-object/777329/1 "2017-01-16T18:50:10Z")
I just bought some long life milk in travel sized containers. It is packed in small ’ ‘cartons’ which are formed by pinching the two ends of a cylinder together at 90 degrees to each other, creating a container with only three triangular faces, six edges and four vertices. Does this solid have a name? ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2017, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-of-a-solid-object/777329/2 "2017-01-16T19:30:07Z")
I’m having a hard time imagining the shape you are describing. Are you sure you don’t mean four triangular faces? I remember frozen orange juice that used to be sold in the US (maybe still is?) in containers shaped like [this](http://www.doyouremember.co.uk/memory/jubbly-frozen-drinks). ---
**Author:** ![Dickerman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8baadc/32.png) [@Dickerman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dickerman)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2017, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-of-a-solid-object/777329/3 "2017-01-16T19:37:18Z")
It’s a type of triangular pyramid. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2017, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-of-a-solid-object/777329/4 "2017-01-16T19:38:19Z")
Too late to edit, but I see that there is a Minute Maid product [in the same shape](https://www.google.com/search?q=minute+maid+juice+bars&biw=1056&bih=518&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjn4efptMfRAhXIxlQKHesrBaEQ_AUIBygC), which [doesn’t seem to have](https://www.reddit.com/r/math/comments/399hfa/what_is_the_shape_that_minute_maid_juice_bars/) an agreed upon name. ---
**Author:** ![Topologist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/topologist/32/3208_2.png) [@Topologist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Topologist)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2017, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-of-a-solid-object/777329/5 "2017-01-16T19:43:46Z")
If you ignore any rounding where the (four) faces meet, it’s definitely a tetrahedron. The other answers in the reddit link were mathematical jokes. (We’re hilarious, we are.) ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2017, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-of-a-solid-object/777329/6 "2017-01-16T21:14:43Z")
> [@bob\_2](#): > > …a container with only three triangular faces… > [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Are you sure you don’t mean four triangular faces?. Many people will at first glance say that [this](http://www.architectural-heritage.co.uk/gfx/742845.jpg) is a stack of three balls. A [different viewing angle](http://www.architectural-heritage.co.uk/gfx/742836.jpg) reveals otherwise. I suspect a similar thing is going on here. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2017, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-of-a-solid-object/777329/7 "2017-01-16T21:53:58Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > I’m having a hard time imagining the shape you are describing. Are you sure you don’t mean four triangular faces? I remember frozen orange juice that used to be sold in the US (maybe still is?) in containers shaped like [this](http://www.doyouremember.co.uk/memory/jubbly-frozen-drinks). If that’s what the OP is referring to, the manufacturer calls it a [Tetra Classic Aseptic](http://www.tetrapak.com/us/packaging/tetra-classic-aseptic) carton, and says that the shape is a tetrahedron. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2017, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-of-a-solid-object/777329/8 "2017-01-17T00:45:00Z")
It’s certainly a tetrahedron. It’s probably not a regular tetrahedron, but it is at least an isohedral isosceles tetrahedron. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2017, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-of-a-solid-object/777329/9 "2017-01-17T01:06:58Z")
I’d say it’s an approximation of a tetrahedron. It would be a tetrahedron if the sides were creased so that it had sharp edges and 4 flat sides. In its normal configuration, with curved sides, it’s not any kind of polyhedron. ---
**Author:** ![ZurBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/71e660/32.png) [@ZurBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZurBob)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2017, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-of-a-solid-object/777329/10 "2017-01-17T01:14:54Z")
> [@bob\_2](#): > > Does this solid have a name? Yes, it’s called the configuration that your milk supplier chooses to deliver your milk… Define it as you please.:rolleyes: How would old school nitpics describe a glass milk bottle? ---
**Author:** ![Some\_Call\_Me.Tim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Some\_Call\_Me.Tim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Some_Call_Me.Tim)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2017, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-of-a-solid-object/777329/11 "2017-01-17T01:36:57Z")
> [@markn\_1](#): > > I’d say it’s an approximation of a tetrahedron. It would be a tetrahedron if the sides were creased so that it had sharp edges and 4 flat sides. In its normal configuration, with curved sides, it’s not any kind of polyhedron. Sharp edges and flat sides as modifications are not sufficient for it to be a regular tetrahedron, the original shape would still have four long edges and two short ones. I think it’s this stretched tetrahedral shape the OP refers to. ---
**Author:** ![ZurBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/71e660/32.png) [@ZurBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZurBob)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2017, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-of-a-solid-object/777329/12 "2017-01-17T01:44:34Z")
> [@Some\_Call\_Me.Tim](#): > > Sharp edges and flat sides as modifications are not sufficient for it to be a regular tetrahedron, the original shape would still have four long edges and two short ones. I think it’s this stretched tetrahedral shape the OP refers to. So what exact geometrical definition would you describe the OP question as? ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2017, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-of-a-solid-object/777329/13 "2017-01-17T01:49:41Z")
> [@markn\_1](#): > > I’d say it’s an approximation of a tetrahedron. It would be a tetrahedron if the sides were creased so that it had sharp edges and 4 flat sides. In its normal configuration, with curved sides, it’s not any kind of polyhedron. This. It doesn’t have a strict name because those sorts of names are reserved for things composed of planar faces. Which this thing doesn’t have. IOW, **gogogopher** ’s Q above is out of order. if you want a descriptive term, it’s an isosolese irregular quasi-tetrahedron with some, not all, rounded edges and curved surfaces. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2017, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-of-a-solid-object/777329/14 "2017-01-17T02:01:46Z")
> [@Some\_Call\_Me.Tim](#): > > Sharp edges and flat sides as modifications are not sufficient for it to be a regular tetrahedron, the original shape would still have four long edges and two short ones. I think it’s this stretched tetrahedral shape the OP refers to. No one in this thread claimed it was a regular tetrahedron. A polyhedron with four triangular sides is by definition a tetrahedron, even if it isn’t regular. ---
**Author:** ![ZurBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/71e660/32.png) [@ZurBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZurBob)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2017, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-of-a-solid-object/777329/15 "2017-01-17T02:22:17Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > This. It doesn’t have a strict name because those sorts of names are reserved for things composed of planar faces. Which this thing doesn’t have. IOW, **gogogopher** ’s Q above is out of order. Suit yourself… So what is “the” answer? ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2017, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-of-a-solid-object/777329/16 "2017-01-17T02:25:28Z")
> [@ZurBob](#): > > Suit yourself… So what is “the” answer? “The” answer is a tetrahedron. It’s not a regular tetrahedron, which has 4 equilateral triangles as faces, but it’s a tetrahedron. ---
**Author:** ![watchwolf49](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9c0ed/32.png) [@watchwolf49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/watchwolf49)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2017, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-of-a-solid-object/777329/17 "2017-01-17T03:03:59Z")
1d4 ---
**Author:** ![Francis\_Vaughan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/francis_vaughan/32/3093_2.png) [@Francis\_Vaughan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Francis_Vaughan)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2017, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-of-a-solid-object/777329/18 "2017-01-17T03:26:43Z")
> [@watchwolf49](#): > > 1d4 😃 ---
**Author:** ![ZurBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/71e660/32.png) [@ZurBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZurBob)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2017, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-of-a-solid-object/777329/19 "2017-01-17T03:31:56Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > “The” answer is a tetrahedron. It’s not a regular tetrahedron, which has 4 equilateral triangles as faces, but it’s a tetrahedron. Or, perhaps per LSLGUY: it’s an isosolese irregular quasi-tetrahedron with some, not all, rounded edges and curved surfaces. Ok, so the OP has conclusively been answered:confused: Thank you. So, LSLGuy, how was my question out of order? ---
**Author:** ![ZurBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/71e660/32.png) [@ZurBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZurBob)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2017, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-of-a-solid-object/777329/20 "2017-01-17T03:41:02Z")
> [@watchwolf49](#): > > 1d4 Just curious. Inside joke, or simply over my head? Thanks. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-of-a-solid-object/777329.md?page=2)