Crystallographic System Revised

CRYSTALLOGRAPHIC SYSTEM
CE211
AGCAOILI, ALDRICH
CARIGA, JHAY ANN
PASCUA, ALLAN JAY
URABA, JHUNE C
CRYSTALLOGRAPHIC TERMS
Crystallography is branch of science that deals with discerning the arrangement and bonding of atoms
in crystalline solids and with the geometric structure of crystal lattices.
 Crystal is defined as a solid body bounded by plane

natural surfaces which are external expression of a
regular of its constituent atoms or ions (Berry, Mason
and Dietrich 1983).
CRYSTAL STRUCTURE
Crystal structure: This is the orderly arrangement of atoms or group of atoms (within a crystalline
substance) that constitute a crystal
Figure 1: Crystal structure of Halite. Left: Ions drawn proportional to their sizes. Right: Expanded
view to show the interior of the unit cell.
CRYSTAL STRUCTURE: The Lattices and Unit Cell
 A crystal is a three-dimensional repetition of some unit of atoms or molecules.
Lattice – This is an imaginary three-

dimensional framework that can be referenced
to a network of regularly spaced points, each of
which represents the position of a motif
Figure 2 Point lattice

CRYSTAL STRUCTURE: The Lattices and Unit Cell
 Unit Cell – This is a pattern that
yields the entire pattern when
translated repeatedly without rotation
in space. The repetition yields
infinite number of identical unit cells
and the pattern is regular. In order to
fill space without gaps, the unit cell
must at least be a parallelogram in
2D (2-dimensional) space.
Figure 3; A Unit Cell.

CRYSTAL SHAPE
The key features of crystal boundaries:
A The angles between them are determined only by the internal crystal structure
B The relative sizes of the crystal boundaries depend on the rate of growth of the crystal
boundaries.
The causes of variations:
A Absorption of impurity atoms that may hinder growth on some boundary faces
B Atomic bonding that may change with temperature
The key feature is the “constancy of angles between crystal boundaries with the same indices for all
crystals of a particular chemical and structural type”. Different structural materials will have different
angles between the crystal boundaries, and the angles can be related to the symmetry and shape of the
unit cell – (hence the Law of Constancy of Angles proposed by Steno 1669 which states that “the
angles between corresponding faces on different crystals of a substance are constant”).
EXTERNAL CHARACTERISTICS OF CRYSTALS
 CRYSTAL FACES
 EDGE
 SOLID ANGLE
 CYSTAL FORM
 CYRSTAL HABIT
CLASSIFICATION OF CRYSTALS ACCORDING TO THE DEGREE OF
CRYSTALIZATION
EUHEDRAL ANHEDRAL SUBHEDRAL

CLASSIFICATION OF CRYSTALS
A crystal structure is like a 3-dimensional design with infinite repetition of some motif (a group of
atoms). It is a periodic space pattern (studies have shown that there are 230 different kinds of space
patterns).
Elementary crystallography is vitally concerned with the characteristics of the patterns.
CATEGORIES:
Translation (parallel periodic displacement)
Point group symmetry (rotations, rotation inversion axes, reflection planes)
Space-group symmetry (screw axes, glide planes).

The Translation Lattices
 Lattice – This is an array of points with the same
vectorial environment
 A primitive unit cell for a single lattice is a unit
cell containing only one lattice point.
For simplicity, the unit cell joins four lattice

points at the corners of a parallelogram: of course
each lattice point being shared between four unit
cells. Figure 4. Regular arrangement of circles (e.g. atoms) in one
dimension with a repeat translational period c.
The names of some of the systems reflect the nature of the metrical properties:
CRYSTAL SYSTEM
The Cubic System
The TETRAGONAL system
The HEXAGONAL system

Figure 5. CRYSTALLOGRAPHIC AXES
The ORTHORHOMBIC system
The MONOCLINIC system
The TRICLINIC system

Point group symmetry (rotations, rotation inversion axes, reflection planes)
Lattice points Lattice rows

Lattice planes are defined in terms of the Miller
indices. Miller indices are prime integers
proportional to the reciprocals of the intercepts of
the planes on the crystallographic coordinate axes
( in Figure), the plane illustrated has intercepts 1a,
1b, 2c. The Miller indices are obtained by taking the
reciprocals of the intercepts and clearing the
fractions such that the indices are co-prime integers.
Therefore this results to: 1/1a, 1/1b, 1/2c = 2a 2b 1c.
The letters are usually omitted and the indices are
enclosed in parentheses; thus (221)
Space-group symmetry (screw axes, glide planes).
Symmetry is a the set of mathematical rules that describe the shape of an object. It is also the most
important of all properties in the identification of crystalline substances. It may be described by reference
to symmetry planes, axes, and the centre of symmetry .
Plane of Symmetry – This is defined as a plane along which

the crystal may be cut into exactly similar halves each of
which is a mirror image of the other. A crystal can have one
or more planes of symmetry
TRIVIA
Do you know that there is only ONE object in the Figure 7. The nine symmetry planes of the cube indicated by th
geometrical universe with perfect symmetry? dashed lines
Axis of Symmetry – This is a line about which the crystal
may be rotated so as to show the same view of the crystal
more than once per revolution, e.g. a cube. Alternatively
it can be defined as a line along which the crystal may be
rotated such that the crystal assumes a position of
congruence i.e. the crystal presents the same appearance
to a fixed observer.
Center of Symmetry– Center of symmetry is the point

from which all similar faces are equidistant. It is a point
inside the crystal such that when a line passes through it,
you’ll have similar parts of the crystal on either side at
same distances.
Center of Symmetry

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CRYSTALLOGRAPHIC SYSTEM

 Crystal is defined as a solid body bounded by plane

Lattice – This is an imaginary three-

Figure 2 Point lattice

Figure 3; A Unit Cell.

EUHEDRAL ANHEDRAL SUBHEDRAL

Point group symmetry (rotations, rotation inversion axes, reflection planes)

Space-group symmetry (screw axes, glide planes).

For simplicity, the unit cell joins four lattice

The TETRAGONAL system

The HEXAGONAL system

The MONOCLINIC system

The TRICLINIC system

Lattice points Lattice rows

Plane of Symmetry – This is defined as a plane along which

Center of Symmetry– Center of symmetry is the point

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