Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman

Faculty Lee Kong Chian Faculty of Engineering and

Science
Department: Department of Mechanical and Material
Engineering
Course Code and Name UEME 1343 Material Science and Engineering
Experiment No.: 1
Title of Experiment: Metallic crystal structures
Laboratory Room No. and Name: KB729 Applied Mechanics Laboratory I
Experiment Duration (hour): 3 hours
Number of Student per Group 5 students

Equipment and Materials

Quantity estimation
Item Description *Item category (e.g. per set/group of student)
Ping pong ball W 50
Double sided tape C 1 roll
Scissors W 1

*Item category
SP Sample or specimen
C Consumable
CH Chemical
W Labware, glassware, tool, and
components
E Equipment
S Software
Objective

To compare atomic packing factors, densities and coordination numbers of simple cubic
(SC), face-centered cubic (FCC), body-centered cubic (BCC) and hexagonal close-packed
(HCP) crystal structures.

Theory

In crystalline material, atoms are situated in a repeating or periodic array over large atomic
distances. All metals form crystalline structures under normal solidification conditions. The
crystal structure is the manner in which atoms, ions, or molecules are spatially arranged and it
determines some of the properties of a crystalline solid. In crystalline structures, atoms (or
ions) are thought of as being solid spheres and lattice is a three-dimensional array of points
coinciding atom positions (or sphere centers).

Unit Cells

Small repeat entities where small groups of atoms form a repetitive pattern in crystalline
solids. It is the basic structural unit structural unit of the crystal structure and it defines the
crystal structure by virtue of its geometry and the atom positions within.

Crystal Structures of Metallic Materials

The three simple crystal structures found for most of the common metals are face-centered
cubic (FCC), body-centered cubic (BCC), and hexagonal close-packed. Both FCC and BCC
crystal structures belong to the cubic crystal system, whereas HCP falls within hexagonal
crystal system. The simplest crystal structure of the cubic crystal system is the simple cubic
(SC) crystal structure.
For crystal structures in the cubic crystal system, the volume of the unit cell is given by:

 =  , where a is the edge length.

For hexagonal crystal system, the unit cell volume is given by:

 √

 = 
 , where a and c represent, respectively, the short and long unit cell dimensions.
Simple Cubic (SC)

Atoms are located at all corners of the cubic unit cell. Each of the corner atoms is shared
among eight unit cells. The edge length is given by:

 = 2
, where R is the atomic radius.

Face-centered Cubic (FCC

Atoms are located at all corners and the centers of all the cube faces. Each of the corner
atoms is shared among eight unit cells. Each of the face atoms is shared among two unit
cells. The edge length is given by:

 = 2
√2, where R is the atomic radius.
Body-centered Cubic (BCC)

Atoms are located at all corners and a single atom at the cube center. Each of the corner
atoms is shared among eight unit cells. The center atom is owned by a single unit cell.
The edge length is given by:


= , where R is the atomic radius.
√

Hexagonal close-packed (HCP)

A crystal structure of elemental metals where the unit cell is of hexagonal geometry and is
generated by the stacking of close-packed planes of atoms. Each of the top and bottom face
corner atoms is shared among six unit cells. Each of the center face atoms is shared among
two unit cells. Each of the midplane interior atoms is owned by a single unit cell.
The c/a ratio is given by:

c/a = 1.633,
where a and c represent, respectively, the short and long unit cell dimensions.
The edge length is given by:

 = 2
, where R is the atomic radius.

Coordination number
It is the number of nearest-neighbour or touching atoms for each atom in a metallic crystal
structure.

Atomic Packing Factor (APF)

It is the fraction of solid sphere volume in a unit cell and it is given by:
      

 = =
   

where Vs is given by the total sphere volume in a unit cell and Vc is the volume of the unit
cell.
The total sphere volume is given by:
4 

 =  
!
3
where n is the number of atoms associated with each unit cell and R is the atomic radius.

Density
Density is given by:
   
"= =
  
# $%
where
n = number of atoms associated with each unit cell
A = atomic weight
Vc = volume of the unit cell
NA = Avogadro’s number

Procedure

Use ping pong balls and glue to build the unit cells of SC, FCC, BCC and HCP crystal
structures.
Results and Calculations

Use the models to determine the number of atoms n associated with each of the unit cells.
n
SC
FCC
BCC
HCP

Use a ruler to measure the radius of the ping pong balls.

Radius R = __________________

Use a ruler to measure the edge length a, of each of the cells.

a (Measured)
SC
FCC
BCC
HCP

For HCP crystal structure, in addition to the short edge length a, the measurement on the
long edge length has to be taken as well.

Long edge length for HCP c = __________________

Calculate the predicted edge length (based on the radius of the ping pong balls) of each of
the cells, and compare the results to the measured edge lengths.

a (Predicted)
SC
FCC
BCC
HCP

Use the measured values of R and a (and also c for HCP) to calculate the atomic packing
factor (APF) for each of the cells built.

APF
SC
FCC
BCC
HCP
Derive an equation for APF for each of the crystal structures, by substituting in the
appropriate relationship between a and R (and also c for HCP). Use the equation to
calculate the APF for each of the crystal structures and compare the results to those
obtained by using the measured values.

Formula APF
SC

FCC

BCC

HCP

Derive the formula for the density for each of the four crystal structures, as a function of R
and atomic weight A.

Formula for Density

SC

FCC

BCC

HCP

Calculate the density ρ of a copper crystal at room temperature, assuming that copper may
have each of the four cubic crystal structures. The radius of a copper atom at room
temperature is approximately 0.128 nm.

ρ (Predicted)
SC
FCC
BCC
HCP
If the theoretical density of copper at room temperature is 8.94 g/cm3 what is the crystal
structure of copper?
Use the models to determine the coordination number for each of the four crystal structures.

Coordination Number
SC
FCC
BCC
HCP

Discussion and Conclusion

Compare the atomic packing factors, densities and coordination numbers of SC, FCC, BCC
and HCP crystal structures.