ANALYSIS OF MATERIALS

SHREYASH HEMANT PANCHAL | MEE1005| RAGHUKIRAN N.

A. Summarize the symmetry of the unit cells of various crystal systems.

B. Derive a relation between the cube edge length a and the atomic radius R for each of the
following crystal structures.
a. BCC
b. FCC

C. Calculate the atomic packing factor for the following crystal structures
a. BCC
b. FCC

D. Calculate the volume of the unit cell of the following crystal structures in terms of the atomic
radius R.
a. BCC
b. FCC
 PART A
SUMMARY OF SYMMETRY OF UNIT CELLS OF CRYSTAL SYSTEMS

The symmetry of unit cells of the crystal

systems is decribed by the adjacent table.
the symmetry decreases in the order
1. CUBIC
2. HEXAGONAL
3. TETRAGONAL
4. RHOMBOHEDRAL
5. ORTHORHOMBIC
6. MONOCINIC
7. TRICLINIC

. The CUBIC system highest level of

symmetry and the lowest by TRICLINC
 PART B
DERIVING A RELATION BETWEEN THE CUBE EDGE LENGTH A AND THE ATOMIC RADIUS R FOR EACH OF THE FOLLOWING
CRYSTAL STRUCTURES.

Body Centred Cubic Structure

At room temperatures, elements Li, Na, K, Rb, Ba, V, Cr and Fe have structures that can be described as body centre
cubic (bcc) packing of spheres. The other two common ones are face centred cubic (fcc) and hexagonal closest (hcp)
packing. This type of structure is shown by the diagram below.

In a crystal structure, the arrangement extends over millions and millions of atoms, and the above diagram
shows the unit cell, the smallest unit that, when repeatedly stacked together, will generate the entire structure.
Actually, the unit we draw is more than a unit cell. We use the centre of the atoms (or spheres) to represent the
corners of the unit cell, and each of these atoms are shared by 8 unit cells. There is a whole atom located in the
centre of the unit cell.
DERIVATION FOR BCC

In body centred cubic unit cell

In triangle EFD

Let DF= b
and we know that
ED=EF= a (edge length)
Now,
b2= a2+ a2= 2a2

In triangle AFD

Let, AF = c
We know that
FD = b
& AD = a (edge length)
Now,
c2= a2+ b2=a2+ 2a2= 2a2
or c =3 a
we know that c is body diagonal.As the sphere at the centre touches the sphere at the corner.
Therefore body diagonalc = 4r
i.e.3 a = 4r
or r = (3/4)a
or a = 4r /3
 DERIVATION FOR FCC

Let r be the radius of sphere and a be the edge length of the cube
As there are 4 sphere in fcc unit cell
Volume of four spheres = 4 (4/3r^3)
In fcc, the corner spheres are in touch with the face centred sphere. Therefore,
face diagonal AD is equal to four times the radius of sphere
AC= 4r
But from the right angled triangle ACD
AC = AD+ DC=a+a=2a
4r = 2a
or a = 4/2 r
 PART C
Calculate the atomic packing factor for the following crystal structures
a. BCC
b. FCC

The packing efficiency is the

fraction of the crystal (or unit cell)
actually occupied by the atoms. It
must always be less than 100%
because it is impossible to pack
spheres (atoms are usually
spherical) without having some
empty space between them.

FOR FCC number of whole atoms

=4.
And volume of each atom is equal
to the volume of the sphere.
CALCULATE THE ATOMIC PACKING FACTOR FOR THE FOLLOWING CRYSTAL STRUCTURES
BCC
 PART D
Calculate the volume of the unit cell of the following crystal structures in terms of the atomic radius R.
a.FCC
b.BCC

In the FCC unit cell illustrated, the atoms touch one another

across a face-diagonal, the length of which is 4R. Because the

unit cell is a cube, its volume is a3, where a is the cell edge

length. From the right triangle on the face

a2 + a2 = (4R)2

or, solving for a,

a = 2R2 (3.1)

The FCC unit cell volume VC may be computed from

VC = a3 = (2R 2)3 = 16R3 2

 Volume of bcc unit cell

4r = 2a (relation derived earlier)

Therefore a = 4/2 r

Thus the volume of unit cell is given by VC

VC=a3 =(4r / 3)3 = 64r3 / 33