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The 7 Crystal Systems

The document discusses the 7 crystal systems and defines the unit cell. It notes that every crystal belongs to one of the 7 crystal systems defined by restrictions on cell constants and angles. However, it warns that many textbooks incorrectly define the restrictions and that the symmetry, not the metric, determines the crystal system. The document provides examples of how crystals can coincidentally have metric parameters of different systems but belong to one based on their true symmetry. It concludes with an exercise identifying a crystal with parameters a=b=12 Å, c=12.1 Å as belonging to the tetragonal system.

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Juan
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256 views9 pages

The 7 Crystal Systems

The document discusses the 7 crystal systems and defines the unit cell. It notes that every crystal belongs to one of the 7 crystal systems defined by restrictions on cell constants and angles. However, it warns that many textbooks incorrectly define the restrictions and that the symmetry, not the metric, determines the crystal system. The document provides examples of how crystals can coincidentally have metric parameters of different systems but belong to one based on their true symmetry. It concludes with an exercise identifying a crystal with parameters a=b=12 Å, c=12.1 Å as belonging to the tetragonal system.

Uploaded by

Juan
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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The Fascination of Crystals and Symmetry

Unit 1.8

The 7 Crystal Systems

Unit Cell Definition


The unit cell is the unit, which builds up the whole crystal structure by
repeated translations along all three spatial directions.
z
z

Unit Cell Attributes


z

Metric

it is defined by six cell/lattice parameters

the three cell/lattice constants, the lengths of the edges (a, b, and c)
and three angles between these edges (, , and )

Symmetry

it contains all present symmetry elements

defines the minimum size of the unit cell

Chemical Composition (Stoichiometry)

H2O
2H:1O

HO HO HO
HO HO HO

the chemical content of an unit cell corresponds to the


chemical composition of the considered compound (!)

H2O H2O H2O H2O H2O H2O


H2O H2O H2O H2O H2O H2O

The 7 crystal systems (metric, system of coordinates)


z

Classification of unit cells


Every imaginable crystal of the world belongs to one
of altogether 7 possible crystal systems

restrictions for

cell constants

cell angles

triclinic

none

monoclinic

none
none

orthorhombic

none

a = b = g = 90

tetragonal

a=b

a = b = g = 90

trigonal

a=b

a = b = 90; g = 120

hexagonal

a=b

a = b = 90; g = 120
a = b = g = 90

cubic
symmetry
hexagonal crystal family

a=b=c

a = g = 90

The 7 crystal systems (metric, system of coordinates)


z

Classification of unit cells


Every imaginable crystal of the world belongs to one
of altogether 7 possible crystal systems

symmetry

restrictions for

cell constants

cell angles

maximum
symmetry

triclinic

none

monoclinic

none
none

orthorhombic

none

a = b = g = 90

mmm

tetragonal

a=b

a = b = g = 90

4/mmm

trigonal

a=b

a = b = 90; g = 120

3m

hexagonal

a=b

a = b = 90; g = 120
a = b = g = 90

6/mmm

cubic

a=b=c

a = g = 90

2/m

m3m

The 7 crystal systems (metric, system of coordinates)


z

Warning!
You will find such a table in almost every text book of
crystallography.

However, in most text books this table looks like this


and this is simply wrong!
cell constants

angles

a b g 90

monoclinic

abc
abc

orthorhombic

abc

a = b = g = 90

tetragonal

a=bc

a = b = g = 90

trigonal

a=bc

a = b = 90; g = 120

hexagonal

a=bc

cubic

a=b=c

a = b = 90; g = 120
a = b = g = 90

triclinic

a = g = 90, b 90

The 7 crystal systems (metric, system of coordinates)


z

VIMs (Very Important Messages)

The cell parameters give only an indication of the underlying symmetry!

It is not the metric which determines the symmetry!

It is the other way round: the symmetry determines the metric,


although not in a biunique way.

Crystals, which belong to the triclinic crystal system (according to their


symmetry), may have coincidentally cell parameters like this:
a=b=c

a = b = g = 90

Vice versa: A crystal of the cubic crystal system has (necessarily and due to the
symmetry!) always the following cell parameters:
a=b=c

a = b = g = 90

The 7 crystal systems (metric, system of coordinates)


Exercise

An analysis of a crystal gave the following unit cell parameters:


a = b = 12 , c = 12.1
c

Which of the different crystal systems could this crystal belong to?
tetragonal

a = b = g = 90

orthorhombic

monoclinic

triclinic

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