Course Tutor:

Nushrat Naushin
2D SYMMETRY (PLANE GROUPS) Lecturer
Department of MSE
KUET.
PLANE SYMMETRY GROUPS
There are 17 possible patterns that make up this symmetry groups.
Proved by Russian Mathematician Evgraf Federov (1891)
And Austrian Mathematician George Plya (1924).
A plane symmetry group is made up of:
Translations
Reflection
Rotation
Glide
Translation (Magnitude+ direction) creates shift in pattern
Reflection  Flip along an axis
Rotation
Glide reflection across an axis, a translation along the axis.
PLANE SYMMETRY GROUPS
It usually contains 4 symbols.
The first symbol represents the lattice type; p for primitive and c for centered (or rhombic).
The second symbol is the largest order of a rotation.
The third symbol is either an m, g, or 1. An m (or, g) means there is a reflection line (or, glide
reflection line but not a reflection line) perpendicular to the x-axis while a 1 means there is no
line of either type.
Finally, the fourth symbol is also either an m, a g, or a 1. In this case an m (resp. g) represents
a reflection line (or, glide reflection line) at an angle alpha with the x-axis, the angle
depending on the largest order of rotation as follows:

alpha = 180º for n = 1; 2;

alpha = 60º for n = 3; 6;
alpha = 45º for n = 4.
SYMMETRY GROUP 1
p1
Made up of only translation
Lattice or, structure is a parallelogram
Transition axes are inclined at an angle
SYMMETRY GROUP 2
(p2)
Contains both translations and rotations
180 degree rotation is referred to as half turns
Lattice is a parallelogram, so axes can be at an angle
SYMMETRY GROUP 3
(pm)
 contains reflections and translations
These reflections are referred to as bilateral symmetry
Lattice of this group is a rectangle
SYMMETRY GROUP 4
(pg)
Contains glide reflections and translations
Direction of glide is parallel to one axis of translation and perpendicular to another
axis of translation
Lattice is rectangular.
SYMMETRY GROUP 5
(cm)
Contains reflections and glide lines with parallel axes and translations.
SYMMETRY GROUP 6
(p2mm)
Contains reflections whose axes are perpendicular
The rotations are half turns
Lattice is rectangle
SYMMETRY GROUP 7
(p2mg)
 Contains reflections and glide reflections, as well as translations
Lattice is rectangle
SYMMETRY GROUP 8
(p2gg)
Group contains glide reflections, half turn rotations and translations
Lattice is rectangle
SYMMETRY GROUP 9
(c2mm)
Contains reflections and 180 degree rotations.
Contains glide reflections
SYMMETRY GROUP 10
(p4)
Group contains rotations and translations
Contains 90 degree rotation
Lattice is square
SYMMETRY GROUP 11
(p4mm)
 Contains rotations, translations and reflections.
Rotation centers lie on the reflection axes
Lattice is square
SYMMETRY GROUP 12
(p4gm)
Contains reflections, glide reflections and rotations.
Lattice is square
SYMMETRY GROUP 13
(p3)
Contains rotations and translations
Lattice is hexagon
Rotation centers are found at the vertices and centers of the triangles and are 120
degrees rotation.
SYMMETRY GROUP 14
(p31m)
Contains reflections, rotations, glide reflections
The reflections are at 60 degree inclines to each other and rotations are 120
degree turns
Lattice is hexagon
Reflection axes are parallel and make equilateral triangles
Axes of glide reflections are halfway between the reflection axes
SYMMETRY GROUP 15
(p3m1)
Similar to p31m
Difference is that all the centers of rotation lie on the reflection axes.
DIFFERENCES BETWEEN P31M AND P3M1
The group p3m1 corresponds to taking the three reflection lines that make angles of
30, 90, and 150 with one of the translation vectors
While,
p31m has the three reflection lines at 0, 60, and 120 degrees with respect to a
translation vector.
DIFFERENCES CONTD.
the centers of rotation are all on lines of reflection for p3m1, while not all centers are
on lines of reflection for p31m.

then the reflection lines of p3m1 never pass through corners of the hexagon while
the reflection lines for p31m always pass through the corners.
SYMMETRY GROUP 16
(p6)
 contains rotations and translations
Rotations are at 60 degrees,180 degrees and half turns
Lattice is hexagon
No reflections present
SYMMETRY GROUP 17
(p6mm)
Contains rotations, reflections, translations, glide reflections
Rotations are at 120, 60, 180 degrees.
Axes of reflections cross all the centers of rotation
Lattice is hexagon
Axes of glide reflections are halfway between parallel reflection axes and pass
through centers of half turns.
FUNDAMENTAL STEPS IN PLANE GROUPS
IDENTIFICATION
Locate the motif present in the pattern. This can be a molecule, molecules, atom,
group of atoms, a shape or group of shapes. The motif can usually be discovered by
noting the periodicity of the pattern.
Identify any symmetry elements in the motif.
Locate a single lattice point for each occurrence of the motif. It is a good idea to
locate the lattice points at a symmetry element location.
Connect the lattice points to form the unit cell.
Determine the plane group by comparing the symmetry elements present to the 17
plane patterns.
REFERENCES
1) Tilley R., Crystals and Crystal Structures, Chapter 3
2) Hammond C., The basics of crystallography and diffraction, chapter 2
3) Nelson A. et al, 17 Plane Symmetry Groups
4) Patrick J. Morandi, Symmetry Groups: The Classi.cation of Wallpaper Patterns
Mathematics 482/526
5)L. Viciu, Symmetry in 2-D