1.

IITJEESyllabus
Classificationofsolidscrystallinestate,sevencrystalsystems(onlycell
parameters:a,b,c,a,bandg)packingfcc,bcc,hcpnearestneighbours,
simpleioniccompounds,pointdefects.
2.TypesofSolids

a)Crystallinesolids:Crystallinesolidshavelongrangeorder.Thelongrangeordermeans
theatomsorionsormoleculesarearrangedinaregularfashionandthissymmetrical
arrangementextendsthroughoutthecrystallength.
b)Amorphoussolids:Anamorphoussoliddiffersfromacrystallinesubstanceinbeing
withoutanyshapeofitsownandhasacompletelyrandomparticlearrangements,i.e.no
regulararrangement.Example:Glass,Plastic

Crystallinesolid Amorphoussolid

1.Theconstituentparticlesarearrangedinaregularfashioncontaining 1.Theconstituentparticlesarenotarrangedinanyregularfashion.
shortrangeaswellaslongrangeorder. Theremaybeatthemostsomeshortrangeorderonly.

2.Theyhavesharpmeltingpoint 2.Theymeltoverarangeoftemperature.

3.Theyareanisotropici.e.,propertieslikeelectricalconductivity,thermal 3.Theyareisotropici.e.,propertieslikeelectricalconductivity,thermal
expansion,etchavedifferentvaluesisdifferentdirection. expansion,etchavesamevalueindifferentdirections
 4.Theyundergoacleavage. 4.Theyundergoanirregularcut

3.UnitCells
In this topic we would be studying certain properties of a solid which depend only on the
constituents of the solid and the pattern of arrangement of these constituents. The smallest
amountofthesolidwhosepropertiesresemblethepropertiesoftheentiresolidirrespectiveof
the amount taken is called a unit cell. It is the smallest repeating unit of the solid. Any
amountofthesolidcanbeconstructedbysimplyputtingasmanyunitcellsasrequired.

In a 3dimensional space lattice, to specify a unit cell we need the values of three vectors
whichgivesthreedistancesalongthethreeaxesandthreeanglesasshowninfigurebelow

4.CrystalSystems
Accordingto Bravais three vectors and their angles study shows morphologically that the
unit cells can be classified into seven crystal systems based on the presence of certain
rotation axes. These seven crystal systems are classified according to geometrical and
symmetricalconsiderationsas
(i)Cubic(ii)Orthorhombic(iii)Rhombohedral(iv)Monoclinic
(v)Triclinic(vi)Tetragonal(vii)Hexagonal
Bravais further showed that there would be only four possible ways in which constituent
speciesofaunitcellcanbearranged.Theyare
(a)Primitiveorsimple
(b)Bodycentred
(c)Facecentredand
(d)Endcentred
So,thetotalnumberofpossibleunitcellsare74=28.Bravais,thenwentontopredictthat
outofthese28possibleunitcells, only 14 of them exist in nature.These fourteen unit cells
thatactuallyexistarecalledBravaisLattices.
Sevencrystalsystems:Thesevencrystalsystemsaregivenbelow.

Sr. Crystalsystem Axialdistance Axialangles Spaceslattice Unitcell

NO

(a)Simple

Latticepointsatthe

Eight corners of the

unitcells.

(b)Bodycentered:
1 a=b=c Lattice points at the
eight corners and at
thebodycentered.

(c)Facecentered:
Cubic
Lattice points at the
eight corners and at
thesixfacecentres

Tetragonal
(d)Simple

Lattice points at the

eight corners of the
unitcell
2. a=b c
(e)Bodycentered:

Lattice points at the

eight corners and at
thebodycentre.

(f)Simple:

Lattice points at the

eight corners of the
unitcell

Orthorhombic (g)Endcentered:

Also called side

centered or base
centered. Lattice
Points at the eight
cornersandattwoface
3. ( centre opposite to
eachother.

(h)Bodycentered:

Lattice points at the

eight corners and at
Rhombic) thebodycentre.

(i)Facecentered:

Lattice points at the

eight corners and at
thesixfacecentres

Rhombohedral

OrTrigonal

(j)Simple:

4. a=b=c Lattice points at the

eight corners of the
unitcell.

5 (k)Simple:
 i.Latticepoints at the
twelve corners of the
unit cell out lines by
thickline

or

ii.Latticepointsatthe
twelve corners of the
hexagonal prism and
at the centres of the
Hexagonal twohexagonalfaces.

(l)Simple:

Lattice points at the

eight corners of the
unitcell

6. (m)Endcentered:

Lattice point at the

eight corners and at
two face centers
opposite to the each
Monoclinic other.

Triclinc

(n)Simple:

7. Lattice points at the

eight corners of the
unitcell.

4.1PrimitiveCubicUnitCell
Inprimitivecubicunitcell,thelatticepointsarecornersofthecube.Thisimpliesthatthe
atomsarepresentonlyatthecornersofthecube
Eachatomatthecorneroftheunitcellissharedbyeightunitcells.Therefore,thevolume
occupiedbyasphereinaunitcellisjustoneeighthofitstotalvolume.
Sincethereareeightsuchspheres,thetotalvolumeoccupiedbythespheresisonefullvolume
ofasphere.Therefore,aprimitivecubicunitcellhaseffectivelyoneatom.
Packingfraction
Itisdefinedasratioofthevolumeoccupiedbythespheresinaunitcelltothevolumeofthe
unitcell
Thusvoidfractionisgivenas=(1Packingfraction).
Sinceadjacentatomstoucheachother,theedgelengthoftheunitcell'a'isequalto2r,wherer
istheradiusofthesphere.

Therefore,Packingfraction(PF)= .(Thisimpliesthat52%ofthevolumeofa

unitcellisoccupiedbyspheres).
\VoidFraction(VF)0.48
Figure3(b)
4.2BodyCenteredCubicUnitCell
Inbodycenteredcubicunitcell,thelatticepointsarecornersandbodycentreofthecube.
Thatistheatomsarepresentatallthecornersandatthebodycenteredposition.Thusthe
effectivenumberofatomsinaBodyCenteredCubicUnitCellis2(Onefromallthecorners
andoneatthecenteroftheunitcell).
Since in BCC the body centered atom touches the top four and the bottom four atoms, the
lengthofthebodydiagonal( )isequalto4r.

Thepackingfractioninthiscaseis=

\Voidfraction(VF)0.32
4.3FaceCenteredCubicUnitCell
InFCCunitcell,thelatticesitesarecornersandfacecentres.Thatisinfacecentered cubic
unitcell,theatomsarepresentatthecornersandthefacecentres of the cube.The effective
numberofatomsinfccis4(onefromallthecorners,3fromallthesixfacecenterssinceeach
facecenteredatomissharedbytwocubes).
Since,eachfacecenteredatomtouchesthefourcorneratoms,thefacediagonalofthecube(
)isequalto4r.

Figure5(a)
\

\Voidfraction(VF)0.26
4.4HexagonalPrimitiveUnitCell

Ahexagonalprimitiveunitcellcomprisesof3layersA,BandAasshowninthefigure.Each
atomhasacoordinationnumberof12.Eachcorneratomissharedbysixunitcells,ofwhich
threeareinthesamelayerandthreeareinthe upper/lower layer. Thus, each corner atom
makes 1/6th contribution to a unit cell. There are 12 such corner atoms, so the effective
contributionfromcorneratomswouldbe1/612=2.Therearetwoatomsatthecentreof
tophexagonalfaceandthebottomhexagonal face. They would contribute half, as they are
shared between two unit cells. Three atoms of B layer are completely inside the unit cell.
Thus, the total number of effective atoms in Hexagonal Primitive unit cell would be

=6

LetABCDisthebaseofhexagonalunitcell,AD=AB=a.Thesphereinthenextlayerhasits
centreFverticallyaboveEittouchesthethreesphereswhosecentresareA,BandD.

\
HenceFE= =

\Theheightofunitcell(h)=

The area of the base is equal to the area of six equilateral triangles, = . The

volumeoftheunitcell= .

\Packingfraction(PF)=

\Voidfraction(VF)0.26
Densityofcrystallattice
Thedensityofcrystallatticeissameasthedensityoftheunitcellwhichiscalculatedas

r = =

r=