Octahedral symmetry

Selected point groups in three dimensions

Involutional symmetry
Cs, (*)
[ ] =

Cyclic symmetry
Cnv, (*nn)
[n] =

Dihedral symmetry
Dnh, (*n22)
[n,2] =
Polyhedral group, [n,3], (*n32)

Tetrahedral symmetry
Td, (*332)
[3,3] =

Octahedral symmetry
Oh, (*432)
[4,3] =

Icosahedral symmetry
Ih, (*532)
[5,3] =
Cycle graph
The four hexagonal cycles have the inversion (the black knot on top) in common. The hexagons are symmetric, so e.g. 3 and 4 are in the same cycle.

A regular octahedron has 24 rotational (or orientation-preserving) symmetries, and 48 symmetries altogether. These include transformations that combine a reflection and a rotation. A cube has the same set of symmetries, since it is the polyhedron that is dual to an octahedron.

The group of orientation-preserving symmetries is S4, the symmetric group or the group of permutations of four objects, since there is exactly one such symmetry for each permutation of the four diagonals of the cube.


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