EXPERIMENT No.

Aim- To study the crystal planes with the help of models related Miller
Indices as well as structure and properties of cubic crystal system.

Structure of cubic crystal system-

Types of cubic crystal system are
A) Simple Cubic System (SC)
B) Body Centred Cubic System (BCC)
C) Face Centred Cubic System (FCC)

Fig.(a) Simple Cubic System (SC) (b) Body Centred Cubic System (BCC) (c) Face Centred Cubic System (FCC)

Properties of cubic crystal system

1. Number of atoms per unit cell
a) Number of atoms per unit cell in simple cubic system are ……….
b) Number of atoms per unit cell in body centred cubic system are …
c) Number of atoms per unit cell in face centred cubic system are …..

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2. Coordination Number
a) Coordination number for simple cubic system is……….
b) Coordination number for body centred cubic system is……
c) Coordination number for face centred cubic system is……
3. Atomic Radius
The atomic radius r is defined as half the distance between nearest
neighbours in a crystal of pure element.

a) Atomic radius for simple cubic system is……….

b) Atomic radius for body centred cubic system is……

c) Atomic radius for face centred cubic system is……

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 4. Atomic Packing Density or Atomic Packing Fraction (APF)
Atomic packing fraction is the ratio of the volume of atoms in unit
cell to the volume of the unit cell.

Q. Note down the formula for APF and calculate the APF for SC, BCC and
FCC

Calculations :

Summary

No. of atoms Coordination Atomic Packing

per unit cell No. radius density

Simple Cubic

Body centred
cubic
Face centred
cubic

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Miller Indices
Procedure For Finding Miller Indices
Step 1: Determine the intercepts of the plane along the axes X,Y and Z in terms
of the lattice constants a,b and c.
Step 2: Determine the reciprocals of these numbers.
Step 3: Find the least common denominator (lcd) and multiply each by this lcd.
Step 4:The result is written in parenthesis.
This is called the `Miller Indices’ of the plane in the form (h k l).
Q. Identify and write down the Miller Indices of following crystal planes
(Note-Write down the Miller Indices below the corresponding plane)

Result: