THE SOLID

STATE:STRUCTURE,PROPERTIES
AND BONDING
CRYSTALLINE SOLIDS
- HAVE WELL-DEFINED SHAPES BECAUSE THEIR –
ATOMS,MOLECULES OR IONS – OCCUR IN AN ORDERLY ARRANGEMENT.

AMORPHOUS SOLIDS
- POORLY DEFINED SHAPES BECAUSE THEIR PARTICLES DO NOT
HAVE AN ORDERLY ARRANGEMENT THROUGHOUT THE SAMPLE.
CRYSTAL LATTICE AND UNIT CELL
• PARTICLES IN A CRYSTAL ARE PACKED TIGHTLY IN AN ORDERLY, THREE
DIMENSIONAL ARRAY.
• IN A SIMPLEST CASE,WE WILL CONSIDER THE PARTICLES AS AN
IDENTICAL SPHERICAL ATOMS AND IMAGINE A POINT AT THE CENTER
OF EACH ATOM. WE WILL CALL THESE POINTS AS LATTICE POINTS.
• THE COLLECTION OF POINTS FORMS A REGULAR PATTERN CALLED
THE CRYSTAL LATTICE.
UNIT CELL
- THE SMALLEST PORTION OF A LATTICE
THAT YIELDS THE CRYSTAL IF IT IS
REPEATED IN ALL DIRECTIONS.
COORDINATION NUMBER
- THE NUMBER OF NEAREST NEIGHBORS
OF A PARTICLE IN A CRYSTAL.
CRYSTAL SYSTEM
CUBIC SYSTEM
1. SIMPLE CUBIC UNIT CELL
2. BODY-CENTERED CUBIC UNIT CELL
3. FACE-CENTERED CUBIC UNIT CELL
SIMPLE CUBIC UNIT CELL
BODY-CENTERED CUBIC UNIT CELL
FACE-CENTERED CUBIC UNIT CELL
ATOMIC PACKING EFFICIENCY/FACTOR
• THE PERCENTAGE OF THE VOLUME OF THE UNIT CELL
OCCUPIED BY THE SPHERES.
Atomic Packing Factor (APF)
Volume of atoms in unit cell*
APF =
Volume of unit cell
*assume hard spheres
• APF for a simple cubic structure = 0.52
volume
atoms atom
a 4
unit cell 1 p (0.5a) 3
3
R=0.5a APF =
a3 volume
close-packed directions
unit cell
contains 8 x 1/8 =
1 atom/unit cell
11
Atomic Packing Factor: BCC
• APF for a body-centered cubic structure = 0.68
3a

2a

Close-packed directions:
Adapted from R length = 4R = 3 a
Fig. 3.2(a), Callister &
Rethwisch 8e.
a
atoms volume
4
unit cell 2 p ( 3a/4) 3
3 atom
APF =
3 volume
a
unit cell 12
Atomic Packing Factor: FCC
• APF for a face-centered cubic structure = 0.74
maximum achievable APF
Close-packed directions:
length = 4R = 2 a
2a
Unit cell contains:
6 x 1/2 + 8 x 1/8
= 4 atoms/unit cell
a
Adapted from
Fig. 3.1(a),
Callister & atoms volume
Rethwisch 8e. 4
unit cell 4 p ( 2a/4) 3
3 atom
APF =
3 volume
a
unit cell
13