INTRODUCTION

Crystal structures may be conveniently specified by describing the unit cell.

The unit cell is the smallest structure that repeats itself by translation through the
crystal, and by placing these identical unit cells in the three-dimensional space, the
location of all the particles in the crystal is determined. There are 14 different types
of crystal structures in nature. The simplest one is the cubic, where the atoms are
lined up in a square, 3D grid. Simple cubic crystals are relatively rare, mostly
because they tend to easily distort. However, many crystals form body-centered
cubic (BCC) or face-centered cubic (FCC) structures, which are cubic with either an
extra atom centered inside the cube or centered in each face of the cube. Most
metals form BCC, FCC or hexagonal-close packed (HCP) structures; however, the
structure can change depending on temperature. (NDT RC)

OBJECTIVES
1. To identify the basic crystal structures that metal atoms form; and
2. To solve problems using the principles of the basic crystal structure.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Each polystyrene foam ball represents an atom and the toothpick as the bond
connecting them. Ten of them were then attached to each other forming a triangle
with base composed of four balls. Two sets of this were made, considering them as
the first and third layers of the model. The second layer, which is a smaller version
of the first set, was then made using the last six balls. The second layer was then
placed over the first, and then the third over the second, directly above the first
layer. The structure was then observed, and then after determining what kind of
structure it formed, the third layer was repositioned, such that it is no longer aligned
with the first layer. Again, the new structure was observed and classified.
Next, new sets of planes were constructed. The first and third sets were
composed of nine balls arranged in square pattern, the same in the second layer
but with just four balls. Then the second layer was then placed over the first, and
then the third over the second, directly above the first layer. It was then observed,
and its form was later then determined.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

a.

c.

first layer

b. second layer

third layer

Figure 1. Layers of the 1st and 2nd arrangement

a. first layer

b. second layer

c. third layer

Figure 2. Layers of the 3rd arrangement

HCP

FCC

BCC

a. HCP

b. FCC

c. BCC

Figure 3. Basic Crystal Structures (isometric views)

Figure 5. HCP and FCC stacking

sequence

a. HCP
b. FCC
Figure 4. HCP and FCC models

Figure 6. Arrangement of atoms of BCC (left) and HCP and FCC (right)

The first arrangement is made by placing the third layer of Figure 1 to the
first and second layers. Figure 3a shows the structure that is formed. This structure
is known as the hexagonal close-packed (HCP). Its hexagonal shape can be actually

seen by removing all the vertices of all the triangles in each layer, shown in Figure
4a. And just by pushing the third layer of the structure, a new arrangement (Figure
3b) is formed. It is known as the face-centered cubic (FCC). If this arrangement is
put on a cube just like in the Figure 4b, there will be an atom present on every
center of the face and every corner of the cube.
The sequence from each layer of the FCC and HCP structure is the same, also
both of its atom has twelve neighboring atoms. The difference between the two
structures is the stacking order of the layers. Figure 5 shows that the first layer and
third layer of HCP are just the same (both A) while the first and third layers of FCC
are different from each other (A and C). Hence, HCP has a stacking sequence of
ABABAB while FCC has an ABCABC.
As for the third arrangement, it is formed by placing the third layer of Figure 2
to the first and second layers. This structure (Figure 3c) is called the body-centered
cubic (BCC). It is can be easily identified, just imagine a cube and put an atom at
the center and each of all the corners of the cube. The model in the Figure 3c can
be divided into four unit cells, each of the four atoms in the second layer as the
central atom.
These crystal structures are important in determining the properties of a
material. For example, structures that are closely packed allow its layers of atoms to
easily slide to each other, thus materials with this kind of structure have greater
plastic deformation ability than those that are not closely packed. The same goes
with the cubic and non-cubic lattice, the symmetry of the cubic structure causes
more slippage than the non-cubic since the layers of atoms in the cubic can slide in
several directions. Knowing these, it can be inferred that FCC, which has a closely
packed atoms, (Figure 6) has a greater capacity to be deformed under a load
without breaking, than the BCC which has a square-packed sequence. However,
even though HCP has closely packed atoms, it does not have a cubic lattice like
FCC, hence, HCP metals are not as ductile as the FCC metals. (NDT RC) And also the
HCP and FCC are much denser than the BCC since the arrangement of its atoms are
closely packed compare to the square-like sequence of the BCC atoms which leave
more space. And when it comes between HCP and FCC, they have the same density
since sliding one layer of spheres cannot affect the volume they occupy. (Weisstein)

REFERENCES
https://www.ndeed.org/EducationResources/CommunityCollege/Materials/Structure/solidstate.html
Weisstein, Eric W. "Hexagonal Close Packing." From MathWorld--A Wolfram Web
Resource. http://mathworld.wolfram.com/HexagonalClosePacking.html
Weisstein, Eric W. "Cubic Close Packing." From MathWorld--A Wolfram Web
Resource. http://mathworld.wolfram.com/CubicClosePacking.html