Packing Fraction of NaCl crystal

 NaCl is an ionic crystal based on the FCC lattice (with 1 Na+ and 1Cl ion as the
Motif)
 This is not a Close packed crystal as the motif is not a single sphere
 (Close packed crystals have a packing fraction of 0.74)
 There are 4 motifs in an unit cell

Volume occupied by ions

Packing Fraction 
Volume of Cell
o 3
Volume of Cell = a  [2( rNa   rCl  )]  [2(0.97  1.81)]  171.88 A
3 3 3

4 3 o 3
Volume occupied by ions =4  ( r   rCl  )  [(0.97)  (1.81) ]  114.65 A
3 3 3

3 Na
114.65
Packing Fraction   0.67
171.88

 When you make a Fullerene crystal based on the FCC lattice you get an even worse packing!