MEE1005

Materials Engineering and Technology

Lecture - 3
 UNIT CELLS
The atomic order in crystalline solids indicates
that small groups of atoms form a repetitive
pattern - unit cells.
• represent the symmetry of the crystal structure

• Thus, the unit cell is the basic structural unit or

building block of the crystal structure and defines
the crystal structure by virtue of its geometry and
the atom positions within.

• more than a single unit cell may be chosen for a

particular crystal structure

• use the unit cell having the highest level of

geometrical symmetry.
 METALLIC CRYSTAL STRUCTURES

The Face-Centered Cubic (FCC) Crystal Structure

• Atoms located at each of the corners and the
centers of all the cube faces.
 Volume
cube edge length a and the atomic radius R are
related through

No of atoms / unit cell = ??

Coordination number - number of nearest-
neighbor or touching atoms
12
Atomic packing factor (APF)

74 %
The Body-Centered Cubic (BCC) Crystal Structure

Atoms located at all eight corners and a single

atom at the cube center
• cube edge length a and the atomic radius R
are related through

No of atoms / unit cell = ??

Coordination number
8
Atomic packing factor (APF)
68%
 The Hexagonal Close-Packed (HCP) Crystal Structure

• The top and bottom faces of the unit cell consist of six
atoms that form regular hexagons and surround a single
atom in the center.

• Another plane that provides three additional atoms to

the unit cell is situated between the top and bottom
planes.

• The atoms in this midplane have as nearest neighbors

atoms in both of the adjacent two planes.
No of atoms / unit cell = ??
Coordination number - number of nearest-
neighbor or touching atoms
12
Atomic packing factor (APF)

74 %
c/a ratio = 1.63
Atomic Radii and Crystal Structures
 Missed out ! – Simple Cubic (SC)

No of atoms / unit cell = ??

Coordination number - ??
Atomic packing factor ??
The only simple-cubic element is polonium, which is considered
to be a metalloid
DENSITY COMPUTATIONS