Often we look at a geodesic dome and wonder what frequency it is, or what layout it is. Frequency is how we identify the physical configuration of a geodesic structure. In other words, the frequency tells us how many struts are used; the higher the geodesic frequency, the more struts are used.

On any geodesic dome, find a pentagon (the shape made of 5 struts, identified in yellow in the image above). From the center of this pentagon, find the next  pentagon and add up the number of segments (or struts) between the two. In the image above there are 6 struts between each pentagon centers. This makes this geodesic dome a 6v.

The frequency is the best indicator of how many struts are used, but there is an important note to make: we often think a dome is always 1/2 of a sphere, but this is not true. For example, an odd frequency (i.e. 1v, 3v, 5v, etc…) never has a row of struts exactly at the center of a sphere; ,even frequencies (i.e. 2v, 4v, 6v, etc…) can be “cut” or truncated at the half-way mark.

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