Regular polytope impossible ("not constructible"). The simplest few regular polygons that are impossible to construct are the "n"-sided polygons with "n" equal to 7, 9, 11, 13, 14, 18, 19, 21... Constructibility in this sense refers only to ideal constructions with ideal tools. Of course reasonably accurate approximations can be constructed by a range of methods; while theoretically possible constructions may be impractical. Euclid's "Elements" gave what amount to ruler-and-compass constructions for the five Platonic solids. (See, for example, Euclid's Elements.) However, the merely practical question of how one might draw a straight line in space, even with a ruler, might lead
Truncation (geometry) like a pentagon, but is actually a double-covered (degenerate) decagon ({10/2}) with two sets of overlapping vertices and edges. A truncated great heptagram {7/3} gives a tetradecagram {14/3}. When the term applies to truncating platonic solids or regular tilings, usually "uniform truncation" is implied, which means truncating until the original faces become regular polygons with twice as many sides as the original form. This sequence shows an example of the truncation of a cube, using four steps of a continuous truncating process between a full cube and a rectified cube. The final polyhedron is a cuboctahedron. The middle image is