Republic of the Philippines

UNIVERSITY OF NORTHERN PHILIPPINES

Tamag, Vigan City
2700 Ilocos Sur

College of Arts and Sciences

Website: www.unp.edu.ph | eMail: cas66@yahoo.com | FB: @unpcas
Tel. #: 674-0872

SOLID STATE PHYSICS

Name: Score:
Course & Year: Date:

MIDTERM EXAMINATION

Answer the following questions:

1. Compare “Solid State Physics” with “Condensed Matter Physics.”

2. Explain why we need to study solid state physics.

3. Contrast the states of matter.

4. Describe the different types of solids. Give an example for each.

5. What is crystallography? How is crystallography important to solid state physics?

6. Define the following:

a. crystal lattice
b. basis
c. unit cell
d. primitive unit cell

7. Identify and describe the 3D crystal systems in which all crystal structures can be classified.

8. How many nearest neighbors (neighbors that actually touch a given sphere) does a sphere
have in each of the three structures of the figure below?
9. (a) Identify each of the six structures shown below. Is it oblique, square, hexagonal? (b) Draw
the primitive unit cells onto the figures shown above.

10. Draw the primitive unit cells onto the figures shown above.

11. How many atoms are there in the FCC unit cell? Determine the packing factor (the fractional
volume occupied) for an FCC structure, assuming that the atoms behave as hard spheres.

12. (a) The atomic diameter of an atom of nickel is 0.2492 nm. Calculate the lattice constant (the
edge-length of the unit cell) of FCC nickel. (b) The atomic weight of nickel is 58.71 kg/kmol.
Calculate the density of nickel.

13. How many atoms are there in the BCC unit cell? Determine the packing factor (the fractional
volume occupied) for an BCC structure, assuming that the atoms behave as hard spheres.

14. (a) The atomic diameter of an atom of iron is 0.2482 nm. Calculate the lattice constant of BCC
iron. (b) The atomic weight of iron is 55.85 kg/kmol. Calculate the density of iron.

15. The atomic weight per 1 mol of copper (Cu) with face-centered cubic (FCC) structure and the
density at 298 K are 63.54 g and 8.89 𝑥𝑥 106 g/m3, respectively. Estimate the nearest-neighbor
distance of Cu atoms.