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Chemical Bonding & Molecular Structure

Crystal Lattice

The regular, repeating three-dimensional arrangement of particles in a crystalline solid.

Unit Dimensionless

In depth

The lattice is generated by translating a small repeating motif, the unit cell, in three directions. Which lattice type forms depends on the relative sizes and charges of the ions, and it determines cleavage planes, density and the diffraction pattern used to solve the structure by X-ray crystallography.

Examples in the real world

NaCl's face-centred cubic lattice with 6:6 coordination; CsCl's body-centred arrangement with 8:8 coordination.