Structures of Solids
Crystalline
solids: well-ordered, rigid, long-range order
The molecules, atoms or ions occupy specific positions.
Examples: quartz, salt, sugar.
Tend to melt
at specific
temperatures, because crystalline
solids have a narrow range of intermolecular forces.
The shattering of crystalline materials
produces
fragments having the same shape and structural
characteristics of
the orginal sample.
Amorphous
solids: molecules,
atoms or ions which do NOT
have an orderly arrangement. Examples:rubber,glass.
Tend to
soften & melt over a range
of temperatures,
because amorphous solids have variable
intermolecular forces. The shattering of a glass
produces irregularly
shaped pieces with
curved edges
and irregular angles. When
you heat sulfur or rubber,
these soften and melt over a
broad range of
temperatures.
Unit Cells
Crystals have an ordered,
repeating structure.
The smallest
repeating unit in a crystal is a unit cell.
The unit cell is the
smallest unit with all the symmetry of
the entire crystal.
Three-dimensional
stacking of the unit cells is the
crystal lattice.
There are three
types
of cubic unit cells; (there are
many
other systems).
1. Primitive
cubic:
atoms at the CORNERS of a simple cube;
each atom is shared by 8 unit cells;
Z
= # of atoms per cell =
Z
= 8 corners/cell x (1/8) atom/corner = 1 atom/cell
2. Body-centered
cubic
(bcc): atoms at the CORNERS of a
cube plus one in the CENTER of the body of
the cube;
the corner atoms are shared by 8 unit cells, and
the
center atom is completely enclosed in one unit cell;
Z = #
atoms per cell = (8 x 1/8) + 1 = 2 atoms/cell
3. Face-centered
cubic
(fcc): atoms at the CORNERS of a
cube
plus one atom in the CENTER OF
EACH FACE of
the cube;
the corner atoms are shared by
8 unit cells,
the face atoms are shared by 2 unit cells;
Z = # atoms per cell =(8 x 1/8)+(6 x 1/2)=4 atoms/cell
The Crystal Structure of Sodium Chloride:
Face-centered cubic lattice (fcc).
There
are two equivalent ways of defining the unit cell:
1. Cl-
(larger) ions at the corners of the cell, or
2. Na+ (smaller) ions at the corners of the cell.
The cation:anion ratio
in a unit cell is the same as that for
the crystal.
In NaCl, each unit
cell contains the same number of Na+
and Cl- ions.
Note that
the unit cell for CaCl2 needs twice as many
Cl- ions as Ca2+ ions.
There are
two
possible choices for the third layer of
spheres:
1. Third layer
eclipses the first (ABABABAB arrangement).
This is called
hexagonal close packing (hcp).
2. Third layer
is in a different position relative to the first
(ABCABCABC arrangement).
This is
called
cubic close packing (ccp);
this ends up to be
identical to
face-centered
cubic (fcc).
Coordination number: the number of spheres directly
surrounding
a central sphere.
In simple
cubic, the coordination number is 6.
In bcc, the coordination number is 8.
In fcc,
the coordination number is 12.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
X-Ray Diffraction:
When waves are passed
through a narrow slit, they are
diffracted.
When waves are passed
through a diffraction grating
(many narrow
slits in parallel), they interact to form a
diffraction
pattern (areas of light and dark bands).
Efficient diffraction
occurs when the wavelength of light
is close to
the size of the slits.
The spacing between
layers in a crystal is 2-20 Angstroms,
which is the
wavelength range for X-rays.
Bonding in Solids:
There are four types of solids:
1. Molecular
(formed from molecules, i.e., C10H18O3, C6H6)
usually soft with low melting points and poor
conductivity of electricity (melting pt. of C6H6 = 5.5oC).
2. Covalent
network (formed from
covalently-bonded giant
rigid networks, i.e., SiC, diamond) - very hard with
very high melting points, and not freely
mobile,
therefore, usually poor conductors of heat
& electricity;
diamond is an exception and jewelers use the high
conduction of heat to distinguish real diamonds from
fakes.
3. Ions (formed from anions &
cations, i.e., NaCl) - hard,
brittle, high melting points and poor conductors of
electricity & heat .
4. Metallic
(formed from metal
atoms, i.e., Ag) - soft or
hard, wide range of melting points, good conductivity
of electricity & heat, malleable and ductile.
Molecular
Solids:
Intermolecular forces:
dipole-dipole, London dispersion
and H-bonds.
These relatively weak
intermolecular forces give rise to
low melting points.
Room temperature gases
and liquids usually form
molecular solids at low temperature.
Efficient packing of molecules
is important (since they
are not regular spheres).
Examples: C6H6, CO2, N2
Covalent-Network
Solids:
Atoms held together in
large networks.
Examples: diamond, graphite, quartz (SiO2),
silicon carbide (SiC), and boron nitride (BN).
In
diamond:
Each C atom has a coordination number of 4; each C
atom is tetrahedral; there is a 3-dimensional array of
atoms; diamond is hard, and has a very high melting
point (3550oC)!
In
graphite:
Each C atom is arranged in a planar hexagonal ring;
layers of interconnected rings are placed on top of
each other; the distance between C atoms is close to
that in benzene (142 pm vs. 139.5 pm in benzene);
the distance between layers is large (341 pm);
electrons move in delocalized orbitals (good
conductor
of electricity). Sheets
slide over one
another easily; therefore,
good lubricant.
Ionic
Solids:
Ions (spherical) held
together by electrostatic forces of
attraction.
The higher
the charge (Q) and the smaller the distance
(d) between the ions, the stronger the
ionic bond.
There are some simple classifications for
ionic lattice
types:
NaCl Structure:
Each ion has a coordination number of 6.
Face-centered cubic lattice (fcc).
Cation to anion ratio is 1:1.
Examples: LiF, KCl, AgCl and CaO.
CsCl Structure:
Cs+ has a coordination number of 8.
Different from the NaCl structure (Cs+
is larger than
Na+ and is located in the center of
the cell).
Primitive cubic (even though it LOOKS like bcc!).
Remember: bcc has to have same atom (ion) at
center as at the
corners. Cation to anion ratio is 1:1.
Zinc-Blende Structure:
Typical example ZnS.
S2- ions adopt a fcc
arrangement.
Zn2+ ions have a coordination number
of 4.
The S2- ions are placed in a
tetrahedron around
the Zn2+ ions. Another
example: CuCl.
Fluorite Structure:
Typical example CaF2.
Ca2+ ions in a fcc
arrangement.
There are twice as many F- as Ca2+ ions in each
unit cell. Examples: BaCl2, PbF2.
Metallic
Solids:
Metallic solids have
metal atoms in hcp (hexagonal
close pack), fcc (face centered cubic) or
bcc (body-centered cubic)
arrangements.
Coordination
number for each atom is either 8 or 12.
Problem: the
bonding is too strong for London dispersion
and there are not enough electrons for covalent bonds.
Resolution: the
metal nuclei "float" in a sea of electrons.
Therefore, metals
conduct electricity, because the
electrons are delocalized and are mobile.