CLASSIFICATION OF SOLIDS

•*Q.6. Give the classification of solids.

•Ans: Solids are classified as crystalline and
amorphous on the basis of the presence or
absence of orderly arrangement of their
constituent particles (atoms, ions or molecules).
•i. Crystalline solids: A crystalline solid is a
homogeneous solid in which the constituent
particles (atoms, ions or molecules) are
arranged in a definite repeating pattern.
 Amorphous solids
•ii. Amorphous solids:
•a. The arrangement of constituent particles
(atoms, molecules or ions) in such a solid has only
short range order.
•b. In such an arrangement, a regular and
periodically repeating pattern is observed over
short distances only.
•c. Such portions are scattered and in between
arrangement is disordered.
•Eg. glass, rubber, plastics and amorphous silicon.
•iv. Unit cell:
•a. Crystalline solids are aggregates of many
small, tiny crystals.
•b. These tiny crystals are called unit cells.
•c. A unit cell is a basic repeating structural unit
of a crystalline solid.
 classification of crystalline solids
•c. Hydrogen bonded molecular solids:
•1. These crystalline solids consist of hydrogen
atom covalently bonded to strongly
electronegative atom like oxygen, nitrogen or
fluorine.
•2. In these molecules, the hydrogen atoms
acquire additional positive charge and form
additional bond with strongly electronegative
atoms in the vicinity. This additional bond is
called hydrogen bond.
•Characteristics:
•1. They do not conduct electricity.
 Unit cell & Bravais lattices
•*Q.21. What is a unit cell? Explain Bravais lattices.
•Ans: A unit cell is the smallest repeating structural
unit of a crystalline solid.
•i. When unit cells of the same crystalline substance
are repeated in space in all directions, a crystalline
solid is formed.
•ii. For convenience, unit cell is drawn on paper by
drawing lines connecting centres of constituent
particles.
•iii. Each point at the intersection of the lines in the
unit cell represents constituent particles, i.e. an ion
or an atom or molecule of the crystalline solid.
 Unit cell & Bravais lattices
•iv. Any point at the intersection of lines is called a
lattice point.
•v. The particles in a crystal are arranged in a
definite repeating pattern. Therefore, any one
lattice point in the crystal is identical to the
number of other lattice points in the crystal that
have identical environments.
•vi. The collection of all the points in the crystal
having similar environment is called space lattice.
•vii. Lattice means a structure made of strips which
cross each other diagonally.
 Unit cell & Bravais lattices
•Bravais Lattices:
•i. The crystalline solids have definite orderly
arrangement of their constituent particles in three
dimensions.
•ii. The positions of these particles in a crystal,
relative to one another, are usually shown by points.
The arrangement of an infinite set of these points is
called space lattice.
•iii. Each point in a lattice is called lattice point or
lattice site.
•iv. Each point in a crystal lattice represents one
constituent particle which may be an atom, a
 Unit cell & Bravais lattices
•vii. There are only 14 possible three dimensional
lattices, as proved by the french mathematician,
Bravais. These are called Bravais Lattices.
•viii. Lattice points when joined by straight lines
gives the geometry of the lattice.
•ix. Shape of any crystal lattice depends upon the
shape of the unit cell which in turn depends upon
following two factors,
•a. The length of the three edges, a, b and c.
•b. The angles between the edges which are α
(between edges b and c), β (between edges a and c)
and γ (between edges a and b). Thus, a unit cell is
 CLASSIFICATION OF UNIT CELLS
•Q.22. How are unit cells classified?
•Ans: Unit cells can be broadly classified into two
categories:
•i. Primitive unit cells:
•When constituent particles are present only at the
corner positions of a unit cell, it is called as primitive
unit cells.
•These are also called simple unit cells. In all, there
are seven types of primitive unit cells. They are
cubic, tetragonal, orthorhombic, monoclinic
,Triclinic, Hexagonal and Rhombohedral.
•ii. Centred unit cells:
•a. Body-centred unit cell:
•These unit cells contain one constituent particle
(atom, molecule or ion) at its body-centre besides the
ones present at its corners.
•b. Face- centred unit cells:
•These unit cells contain one constituent particle
present at the centre of each face, besides the ones
present at its corners.
•c. End- centred unit cells:
•In such a unit cell, one constituent particle is present
at the centre of any two opposite faces besides the
•*Q.23. Explain with the help of diagram
•i. Seven types of unit cells
•ii. Three types of cubic cells
•iii. Two types of tetragonal unit cells
•iv. Four types of orthorhombic unit cells
•v. Two types of monoclinic unit cells
•vi. Triclinic unit cell
•vii. Primitive hexagonal unit cell
 seven types of simple or primitive
unit cells
•Ans: i. There are seven types of simple or primitive
unit cells among crystals. These unit cells are
characterized by the edges a, b and c and the angles
α, β are γ.
•These are as follows:
•a. Cubic lattice:
•All the three edges (sides) are of equal length and
are at right angles to each other (a = b = c,α = β = γ =
90°).
•b. Tetragonal lattice:
 seven types of simple or primitive unit cells
•d. Monoclinic lattice:
•The three edges (sides) are of unequal lengths and
two angles are of 90° (a ≠ b ≠ c, α = β = 90° and γ
angle ≠ 90°).
•e. Hexagonal lattice:
It has two edges (sides) of equal length and two
angles of 90° and one angle of 120° (a = b ≠ c,α = β =
90° and γ = 120° ).
•f. Rhombohedral lattice:
•The three edges (sides) are of equal lengths two
axial angles are equal to 90° but the third is not
equal to 90° (a = b = c, α = β = 90°, γ ≠ 90°).
•Q.24. Distinguish between hexagonal and
monoclinic unit cells. (NCERT)
•Ans: For hexagonal unit cell, a = b ≠ c, α = β = 90°, γ
= 120°
•For monoclinic unit cell, a ≠ b ≠ c, α = β = 90°, γ ≠
90°
•Q.25. Give the significance of a lattice point.
(NCERT)
•Ans: Each lattice point represents one constituent
particle of the solid, which may be an atom, a
molecule or an ion.
•*Q.26. Explain coordination number. OR
•*Q.27. Explain how to deduce coordination
number of cation.
•Ans: i. The coordination number of constituent
particle of the crystal lattice is the number of
particles surrounding a single particle in the crystal
lattice.
•ii. If particular sphere is shared, then its contribution
to a given cation is accounted accordingly.
•iii. In case of ionic crystals, coordination number of
an ion in the crystal is the number of oppositely
charged ions surrounding that ion.
 Open structure & Space filling structure
•Q.28. Explain the following:
•i. Open structure ii. Space filling structure
•Ans: i. Open structure:
•Open structures are those structures where each
small sphere represents only the centre of the
particle occupying that position and not the actual
size of the particle.
•In this structure, the arrangement of particles is
easier to follow as shown in the following figures.
i. Open structure
ii. Space filling structures:
Space filling structures are those structures which
show how the particles are packed within the solids.
 Number of atoms present per unit
cell
•Q.29. Calculate the number of atoms present per
unit cell in:
•i. Simple or primitive cubic lattice ii. Body-centred
cubic lattice iii. Face-centred cubic lattice
•Ans: i. Simple or primitive cubic lattice:
•a. It is evident from figure (a) that in case of simple
cubic unit cell there are eight particles (spheres) at
eight corners of unit cell.
•b. The complete crystal is formed by repetition of
unit cells in all three directions and the particles at
the corners are shared between neighbouring unit
cells.
 Number of atoms present per unit cell in Simple or
primitive cubic lattice
•c. Every particle at the corner of unit cell is shared
by eight neighbouring unit cells. Hence each unit cell
contains only 1/8th of the particle at its corners as
shown in figure (c).
•d. There are eight corners of the unit cell and 1/8th
of the particle is present at each corner.
•∴ The number of atoms present in each unit cell
= 8 corner atoms × 1/8 atom per unit cell = 1
•Thus, simple cubic lattice has one atom per unit
cell.
 Number of atoms present per unit cell in Body-
centred cubic lattice (bcc)
•ii. Body-centred cubic lattice (bcc):
•a. Body centred cubic unit cell (bcc type) is a
modification of simple cubic unit cell. Like simple
cubic unit cell, it has one particle at every corner of
cubic cell. In addition it has one more particle at the
centre of the body of unit cell as shown in the figure
(a) and (b).
•b. Like simple cubic unit cell at every corner of the
cube, there are 1/8th of sphere as there are eight
corners. In addition to this there is one sphere at the
centre of the cube as shown in figure (c).
•Hence total number of spheres in body centred cubic
Number of atoms present per unit cell in Body-
centred cubic lattice (bcc)
•c. A simple cubic structure is formed by
superimposing layers of atoms on one another.
•A body centred cubic structure is formed by fitting
second layer of spheres into depression of the first
layer and the third layer spheres in the depression of
the second layer and so on.
•Each sphere is surrounded by eight spheres, four in
the layer above and four in the layer below. Hence
the coordination number of the particle
participating in the crystal formation is eight.
 Number of atoms present per unit cell in
Body-centred cubic lattice (bcc)
•d. Thus, the number of atoms present at the
corners per unit cell
= 8 corner atoms × 1/8 atom per unit cell = 1
•∴ The number of atoms present at the centre of
the cube = 1
•∴ The number of atoms present in the cell
=1+1=2
•Thus, body centred cubic has 2 atoms per unit
cell.
 1.5 Packing in solids
•Q.31. Explain one dimensional close packing in
solids.
•Ans: In solids, the constituent particles are close
packed, leaving the minimum vacant space. Consider
the constituent particles as identical hard spheres.
•Close packing in one dimension:
•i. There is only one way of arranging spheres in a one
dimensional close packed structure, that is to arrange
them in a row and touching one another as shown in
the figure.
ii. In this arrangement, each sphere is in contact with
two of its neighbours, except the two spheres at the
iii. Thus, in one dimensional close packed
arrangement, the coordination number of the spheres
(particles) is 2, as each particle is in contact with two
neighbouring particles in one dimension.
 Two dimensional close packing in
solid
•Q.32. Explain two dimensional close packing in
solid.
•Ans: Two dimensional close packed structures can
be generated by stacking (placing) the rows of one
dimensional close packed spheres. This can be done
in two different ways.
•i. Square close packing (AAAA type arrangement):
•a. The second row may be placed in contact with
the first
one such that the spheres of the second row are
exactly
above those of the first row.
 Two dimensional close packing in
solid
•d. The planar two dimensional arrangement is called
AAAA type of arrangement as shown in figure (a).
•e. In this arrangement, each sphere is in contact
with four of its neighbours. Thus, the coordination
number of the sphere is four.
•f. Also if the centre of these 4 immediate
neighbouring spheres are joined, a square is formed.
•Hence, this packing is called square close packing in
two dimension.
Two dimensional close packing in
solid
 ii. Hexagonal close packing
•ii. Hexagonal close packing (ABAB type
arrangement):
•a. The second row may be placed above the first
one in staggered manner such that its spheres fit in
the depressions of the first row.
•b. If the arrangement of spheres in the first row is
called ‘A’ type, the one in the second row is
different and may be called ‘B’ type.
•c. When the third row is placed adjacent to the
second in staggered manner, its spheres are aligned
with those of the first layer. Hence this layer is also
of ‘A’ type.
 Hexagonal close packing
•d. The spheres of similarly placed fourth row will be
aligned with those of the second row (‘B’ type).
•e. Hence, this arrangement is of ABAB type. In this
arrangement there is less free space and this
packing is more efficient than the square close
packing.
•f. Each sphere is in contact with six of its neighbours
and the two dimensional coordination number is six.
•g. The centres of these six spheres are at the corners
of a regular hexagon as shown in the figure (b).
Hence this packing is called two dimensional
hexagonal close packing.
Three dimensional packings.
•*Q.33. Explain with the help of neat diagram AAAA
and ABAB and ABCABC type of three dimensional
packings.
•Ans: i. AAAA type of three dimensional packing:
•a. AAAA type of two dimensional crystal layers are
placed one over the other such that all the spheres
of the successive layers are exactly above the
spheres of the lower layers.
•b. All spheres of different layers of the crystal
structures are perfectly aligned horizontally and also
vertically so that any unit cell of the crystal has
simple cubic structure as shown in figure(a).
AAAA type of three dimensional
packing
 AAAA type of three dimensional
packing
•c. It is evident from the figure that each sphere is
surrounded by six spheres, 4 in the layer of sphere
and one in layer above and one below the layer.
Hence coordination number of the sphere
participating in formation of simple cubic structure is
six.
•d. There is more empty space in the simple cubic
structure.
 ABAB type of three dimensional
packing
•ii. ABAB type of three dimensional packing:
•In this type (ABAB) of crystal structure packing is
more efficient than simple cubic structure.
•a. Consider two ABAB type planar two dimensional
crystal structure as shown in figure. In both the
structure, the central spheres are surrounded by six
spheres in each layer.
•b. Now consider that the spheres of second layer are
packed into depressions between the spheres of the
first layer.
•c. This first layer is of ABAB type, but, for
convenience it is called A type.
 ABAB type of three dimensional
packing
•e. It is evident from figure (b) that,
•1. only half the number of triangular open spaces of
lower A are completely covered by spheres of upper
layer B leading to the formation of tetrahedral voids
formed by four spheres, three in the lower layer A
and one in the upper layer B.
•2. Simultaneously new tetrahedral voids are also
created by three neighbouring spheres of top layer
and one sphere of the lower layer.
•3. The remaining half of the tetrahedral voids of the
lower layer are partially covered by three
neighbouring spheres of upper layer leading to the
 ABAB type of three dimensional
packing
•f. In the case of tetrahedral voids four spheres are
involved in its formation. If the centres of these
four spheres are connected, a tetrahedron is
formed.
•g. Similarly in case of octahedral voids six spheres
are involved and when centres of six spheres are
connected, octahedron is formed.
 ABAB type of three dimensional
packing
•h. The number of the two types of voids depends
upon the total number of close packed spheres. If
the number of close packed spheres are N, the
number of octahedral voids are N and the number
of tetrahedral voids are 2N.
•i. In short there are two types of depressions
formed at the end of fixing B layer over A layer, the
octahedral voids and the tetrahedral voids. Hence,
third layer can be fitted into the second layer in the
following two ways.
•Placing the spheres of the third layer into the
tetrahedral voids:
•i. If the tetrahedral voids of the second layer are
covered by the spheres of the third layer, then it is
evident that all spheres of the third layer are exactly
over the spheres of the first layer and the fourth layer
has to be fitted like second layer i.e. the overall
arrangement becomes ABAB type.
•ii. The generated crystal structure is called hexagonal
close packed (hcp) structure.
 ABCABC type of three dimensional packing
•iii. ABCABC type of three dimensional packing
•OR
•Placing the spheres of the third layer into
octahedral voids:
•a. The third layer may be placed over the second
layer such that all the spheres of the third layer fit in
octahedral voids.
•b. This arrangement of the third layer is different
than arrangements of layer A and layer B. The
different arrangement is called C type and the
structure is called ABC type.
•c. If the stacking of layers is continued then it is
 ABCABC type of three dimensional packing
•d. The ABC type arrangement is called cubic close
packed (ccp) structure. This structure is the same as
face-centered cubic structure.
•e. The exploded view of ABCABC type of
arrangement is shown in figure (b) and (c).
•f. In the hcp and ccp structures, each sphere has 6
neighbouring spheres in its own layer, 3 spheres in the
layer above and 3 spheres in the layer below it.
•g. Thus a single sphere is surrounded by twelve
spheres. Therefore, co-ordination number of sphere
in ABAB type or ABCABC type is same i.e. 12.
•h. The packing cannot be made more efficient as it is
Packing and voids in ionic solids
 Radius ratio rule of ionic compounds.
•*Q.41. Write a note on radius ratio rule of ionic
compounds.
•Ans: i. The structure of any ionic compound depends
upon stoichiometry and the sizes of the ions.
•ii. Bigger cations can be accommodated in cubic or in
octahedral holes whereas smaller cations can be
accommodated in tetrahedral holes.
•iii. The geometry of unit cell also depends upon the
coordination number of the ion in the crystal
structure.
•iv. There is a limiting value of ratio of the radius of
cation to that of the anion i.e. r+/r− for a given
 Radius ratio rule of ionic
compounds
•vii. The radius ratio rule is applicable only to
ionic compounds.
•viii. The rule is not obeyed if the bonds are
covalent.
•ix. The rule is useful for predicting structures of
many ionic solids.
 Point defects
•*Q.45. What are point defects?
•Ans: The defect is due to a fault produced in the
arrangement of a point i.e. a constituent particle
like atom, ion or molecule in a crystalline solid.
•The point defects are classified into three types;
•i. Vacancy defect or Schottky defect:
•a. Sometimes during crystallisation some of the
places of the constituent particles remain
unoccupied and the defect generated is called
vacancy defect.
•b. The unoccupied positions are called vacancies.
 ii. Interstitial defect (Frenkel defect)
•ii. Interstitial defect (Frenkel defect):
•a. When cation or anion from ionic solid leaves its
regular site and moves to occupy a place between
the lattice site called interstitial position, the defect is
called interstitial defect or Frenkel defect.
•b. The presence of this defect does not alter the
density of the solid.
•c. This defect is common when the difference in
ionic
radii of cations and anions is large.
•d. This defect is observed in AgCl solid because of
Ag+
 iii. Impurity defect:
•iii. Impurity defect:
•a. The impurity defect occurs when a regular cation
of the crystal is replaced by some different cation.
•b. If the impurity cation is substituted in place of
regular cation, it is called substitution impurity
defect.
•c. If the impurity is present in the interstitial
positions, it is called interstitial impurity defect.
•d. Alloys are formed by substitution defects. Brass is
a substitution alloy formed by substituting copper
metal by zinc metal in 3 : 1 ratio.
•e. Stainless steel is an interstitial alloy formed by
introducing carbon atom as impurity.
iii. Impurity defect:
 iii. Ferromagnetism
•iii. Ferromagnetism:
•a. The substances which are strongly attracted by
the magnetic field and show permanent magnetism
even when the magnetic field is removed are known
as ferromagnetic substances. The property thus
exhibited is called ferromagnetism.
•b. Substances like iron, cobalt, nickel, CrO2, etc.
exhibit very strong magnetic property. These
substances can be permanently magnetised. They
contain large number of unpaired electrons.
•c. Eg. Iron with electronic configuration [Ar] 3d6
4s2 i.e.,
8.1 X-RAYS AND CRYSTAL STRUCTURE
X-rays are electromagnetic waves of very short wavelength. The wave nature
of X-rays is not confirmed by diffraction experiment, because a grating of about
40 million ruling per cm is required for diffraction experiment. The preparation of
such a grating is highly impossible. At the same time, crystallographers believed
that atoms in crystals are regularly arranged with an interatomic distance of
about
10 -8 cm. The wavelength of X-rays is, also, in the order of 10 -8 cm. Based on
this, Laue suggested that crystal can be used as a three dimensional diffraction
grating for X-rays. This suggestion is carried out successfully by Laue in his
experiment using zinc sulphide crystal. The photograph obtained is known as
Laue diffraction pattern.
The Laue experiment confirmed the wave nature of X-rays and also
established the fact that atoms or ions in crystals are arranged in regular three
dimensional lattice. Though Laue diffraction pattern gives more information about
the symmetry of crystals, the interpretation of the pattern seems to be difficult.
8.1.1 Bragg’s Equation
W.L.Bragg and W.H.Bragg derived a math
Bragg’s Equation
W.L.Bragg and W.H.Bragg derived a mathematical relation to determine
interatomic distances from X-ray diffraction patterns. The scattering of
X-rays by crystals could be considered as reflection from successive
planes of atoms in the crystals. However, unlike reflection of ordinary
light, the reflection of X-rays can take place only at certain angles which
are determined by the wavelength of the X-rays and the distance
between the planes in the crystal. The fundamental equation which
gives a simple relation between the wavelength of the X-rays,
the interplanar distance in the crystal and the angle of reflection, is
known as Bragg’s equation.
Bragg’s equation is nλ = 2d sinθ
where n is the order of reflection
λ is the wavelength of X-rays
dis the interplanar distance in the crystal
θis the angle of reflection
Significance of Bragg’s equation
1)If we use X-rays of known wavelength (λ), then the interatomic
distance
(d) in an unknown crystal can be calculated. On the other hand,
if we use a crystal whose interatomic distance ‘d’ is known, then
the wavelength of X-rays can be calculated.
2) The Bragg’s equation gives the essential condition for
diffraction to occur.
3) When the experiment is done, there will be a maximum
reflection at a particular angle θ. That angle is noted. It
corresponds to first order reflection (n=1). If the angle ‘θ’ is
increased, maximum reflection occurs at some other higher
angle. It corresponds to second order reflection (n=2). Similarly,
third, fourth and higher order of reflection occur at certain
specific angles.
The values of angles obtained are in accordance with the
Bragg’s equation.
Hence Bragg’s equation is experimentally verified.
Bragg’s spectrometer method
This method is one of the important method for
studying crystals using X-rays. The apparatus consists
of a X-ray tube from which a narrow beam of
X-rays is allowed to fall on the crystal mounted on a
rotating table.The rotating table is provided with scale
and vernier, from which the angle of incidence, θ can
be measured.
An arm which is rotating about the same axis as the crystal table,
carries an ionisation chamber. The rays reflected from the crystal
enter into the ionisation chamber and ionise the gas present
inside. Due to the ionisation, current is produced which is
measured by electrometer. The current of ionisation is a direct
measure of intensity of reflected beam from the crystal. For
different angles of incidence, the corresponding ionisation current
is measured from the electrometer. These values are plotted in
the form of graph.
For sodium chloride, the maximum reflection or peaks for 100
plane occurred at θ = 5.9°, 11.85° and 18.15°. The sines of these
angles are 0.103, 0.205 and 0.312 which are in the ratio 1:2:3.
These peaks represent the first,second and third order reflections.
The ratio confirms the correctness of Bragg’s equation.
Bragg’s Law
 Bragg’s Law Applet
To explore Bragg’s Law,
we will use the interactive
Bragg’s Law Applet

The applet shows two rays incident on two atomic layers of a crystal, e.g., atoms,
ions, and molecules, separated by the distance d. The layers look like rows
because the layers are projected onto two dimensions and your view is parallel to
the layers. The applet begins with the scattered rays in phase and interferring
constructively. Bragg's Law is satisfied and diffraction is occurring. The meter
indicates how well the phases of the two rays match. The small light on the meter
is green when Bragg's equation is satisfied and red when it is not satisfied.
 The Details Meter

Bragg's Law Applet with

details meter activated, but
no constructive interference.
Note that the peaks and
troughs on the scattered
beams are not aligned.

The meter can be observed while the three variables in Bragg's are changed by
clicking on the scroll-bar arrows and by typing the values in the boxes. The d and
Θ variables can be changed by dragging on the arrows provided on the crystal
layers and scattered beam, respectively
 Constructive Interference

Bragg's Law Applet with constructive interference and n = 2.

Note that the peaks and troughs on the scattered beams are
aligned
 What is Bragg’s Law?
Bragg's Law refers to the simple equation:
nλ = 2d sinΘ
derived by the English physicists Sir W.H. Bragg and his son Sir W.L. Bragg in
1913 to explain why the cleavage faces of crystals appear to reflect X-ray beams
at certain angles of incidence (Θ, λ). The variable d is the distance between atomic
layers in a crystal, and the variable lambda is the wavelength of the incident X-ray
beam (see applet); n is an integer.

This observation is an example of X-ray wave interference

(Roentgenstrahlinterferenzen), commonly known as X-ray diffraction (XRD), and
was direct evidence for the periodic atomic structure of crystals postulated for
several centuries. The Braggs were awarded the Nobel Prize in physics in 1915
for their work in determining crystal structures beginning with NaCl, ZnS and
diamond. Although Bragg's law was used to explain the interference pattern of X-
rays scattered by crystals, diffraction has been developed to study the structure of
all states of matter with any beam, e.g., ions, electrons, neutrons, and protons,
with a wavelength similar to the distance between the atomic or molecular
structures of interest.
 Deriving Bragg’s Law
Fig. 1 Deriving Bragg's Law using the
reflection geometry and applying
trigonometry. The lower beam must travel
the extra distance (AB + BC) to continue
traveling parallel and adjacent to the top
beam.
Text by Paul Schields
Bragg's Law can easily be derived by
considering the conditions necessary to
make the phases of the beams coincide
when the incident angle equals and
reflecting angle. The rays of the incident
beam are always in phase and parallel
up to the point at which the top beam
strikes the top layer at atom z (Fig. 1).
The second beam continues to the next
layer where it is scattered by atom B.
The second beam must travel the extra
distance AB + BC if the two beams are to
continue traveling adjacent and parallel.
This extra distance must be an integral
(n) multiple of the wavelength (λ) for the
phases of the two beams to be the
same:
nλ = AB +BC (2).
 Deriving Bragg’s Law (cont.)
Recognizing d as the hypotenuse of the
right triangle Abz, we can use trigonometry
to relate d and Θ to the distance (AB + BC).
The distance AB is opposite Θ so,

AB = d sinΘ(3).

Because AB = BC eq. (2) becomes,

nλ = 2AB (4)

Substituting eq. (3) in eq. (4) we have,

nλ = 2 d sinΘ, (1)

and Bragg's Law has been derived. The

location of the surface does not change the
derivation of Bragg's Law.