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Crystal Lattice

  • Page ID
    1547
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    Crystals are composed of three-dimensional patterns. These patterns consist of atoms or groups of atoms in ordered and symmetrical arrangements which are repeated at regular intervals keeping the same orientation to one another. By replacing each group of atoms by a representative point a crystal lattice is obtained. Keep in mind; lattice sites are not necessarily associated with the position of atoms. Thus, a crystal lattice is a set of infinite, arranged points related to each other by transitional symmetry. The outlines for such patterns are called lattices. Lattices are comprised of the intersections of three parallel planes. The planes intersect producing three-dimensional figures which have six faces (like a cube) these are set in three sets of parallel planes, thus making a figure known as a parallelepiped.

    Contributors and Attributions

    • Cassandra Patterson (UCD)

    Crystal Lattice is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by LibreTexts.

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