Presentation on

Structure of solid

By-
Afridi Ansari (DIP/18/ME/009)
 INTRODUCTION

There are two main categories

of solids:
1.Amorphous.
2.Crystalline.
1. Amorphous solid- Constituents (atoms , molecules or ions) of solids are not arranged in a
definite geometrical shape or repeated geometrical shape.
examples- Glass, Rubber, Plastic, etc…

2. Crystalline solid – Constituents (atoms , molecules or ions) of solids are arranged in a

definite geometrical shape or repeated geometrical shape.
examples- Diamonds, Salts.
Difference between Amorphous and Crystalline-
*This chapter deals with crystalline solid only*
 Unit Cell

In a crystal , atoms are arranged in a straight rows in a three – dimensional periodic

pattern. A small part of the crystal that can be repeated to form the entire crystal is
called as unit cell.
OR
Unit cell is a repeating structure of any solid.
 The 7 Crystal Systems

The structures of all crystals can be classified according to the

symmetry of the unit cells. There are in total 7 groups, collectively called
Crystal Systems: Tricinic, Monoclinic, Orthorhombic, Tetragonal, Trigonal,
Hexagonal, and Cubic.
This chapter deals with cubic structure more.

Three cubic structures are –

1.Simple cubic structure.
2.Body centered cubic structure.
3.Face centered cubic structure.
 1.Simple Cubic structure
In the simple cubic structure there is only one lattice point at each corner .
 Simple cubic structure only fill about 52% of the volume of the container. This is a
relatively inefficient arrangement, and only one metal (polonium, Po) crystallizes in a simple
cubic structure.
2. BCC - The body-centred cubic structure is based on the simple cubic structure, but has an
additional lattice point at the very centre of the cube. Atoms at all of the corners and
an atom in the centre. This is called
a body - centered cubic (BCC) solid.
Atoms in the corners of a BCC unit cell
do not contact each other but contact
the atom in the center .
Atoms in BCC arrangement occupies
about 68% of the total volume . examples - Chromium (Cr), and Tungsten (W)
 3.Face Centered Cubic strucuture (FCC) –

Another structure based on the simple cubic structure

is face-centred cubic. In this crystal
structure there are the eight lattice
points at each corner, as in the simple
cubic, but there are additional lattice point
at the centre of each face of the cube.
Atoms in an FCC occupies 74% of the
volume.
 Atomic Packing Factor

Atomic Packing Factor (APF) is defined as the volume of atoms within the unit cell
divided by the volume of the unit cell. 

where Nparticle is the number of particles in the unit cell, Vparticle is the volume of

each particle, and Vunit cell is the volume occupied by the unit cell.
 Atomic Packing Factor for Simple Cubic
structure

For a simple cubic packing, the number of atoms per unit cell is one. The side of
the unit cell is of length 2r, where r is the radius of the atom.
 Atomic Packing Factor for Body-centered cubic -

The length of each side of the BCC structure can be related to the radius of the atom by

Knowing this and the formula

for the volume of sphere, it
it becomes possible to
calculate the APF as-
 Atomic Packing Factor for Hexagonal Close-Packed

The edge of this tetrahedron is a . If a=2r ,  then its height

can be easily calculated to be

Therefore,  
It is then possible to calculate the APF of HCP as follows: