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States of Matter & Gas Laws

Anisotropy

The dependence of a physical property on the direction in which it is measured.

Unit Dimensionless

In depth

Anisotropy arises whenever a structure has different arrangements or bonding along different axes, so it is characteristic of crystalline solids and absent in amorphous ones and in liquids and gases. Refractive index, conductivity, thermal expansion and mechanical strength are all commonly anisotropic.

Examples in the real world

Graphite conducting well within its layers but poorly across them; calcite showing double refraction.