Question

Centers of adjacent faces of a unit cube are joined to form a regular octahedron. What is the volume of this octahedron?

$\dfrac{1}{8}$

$\dfrac{1}{6}$

$\dfrac{1}{4}$

$\dfrac{1}{3}$

$\dfrac{1}{2}$

Answer: B

Concepts:3D geometry pyramid volume

Difficulty rating: 1760

Solution:

The six face centers form a regular octahedron, viewed as two congruent square pyramids sharing a base. Adjacent face centers are $\frac{\sqrt2}{2}$ apart, so the square base has area $\left(\frac{\sqrt2}{2}\right)^2 = \frac12.$

Each pyramid has height $\frac12,$ so its volume is $\frac13 \cdot \frac12 \cdot \frac12 = \frac{1}{12}.$ The octahedron has volume $2 \cdot \frac{1}{12} = \frac16.$

Thus, the correct answer is B.

2006 AMC 10A Problem 24

Answer: B

Difficulty rating: 1760

Solution:

Problem 24 in Other Years