Swinburne College Engineering Swinburne University of Technology
Experiments
For
LMAPR
Materials and Processes
Experiment E1
Building Crystal Models
for
The first year of Engineering
[Link] (compiler)
Version: 2014-05-02
Experiments for L0046MAPR Materials and Processes,
Swinburne College Engineering Swinburne University of Technology
EXPERIMENT LMAPR-E1
Building Crystal Models of Solid Engineering materials
Use Polystyrene balls and toothpicks to build
a SCC (simple cubic cell),
FCC (face centered cubic cell), and
a BCC (body centered cubic cell).
1. Devise your own method to measure the radius of a Polystyrene ball.
Radius = ____________
2. Use a ruler to measure the lattice parameter (edge length) of each of the cells.
Cell Type Measured edge length (average of 6 edges of the cube)
SCC
BCC
FCC
3. Calculate the predicted edge length (based in the radius r of the Polystyrene
balls), and compare it to the measured edge length.
Formula for the edge length as a function of radius
Cell Type Formula for edge length as a function of radius
SCC
BCC
FCC
4. Compare your calculations and measurements
Cell Type Predicted edge length from equation Measured edge length
Experiments for L0046MAPR Materials and Processes,
Swinburne College Engineering Swinburne University of Technology
5. Use your measurements to calculate the packing factor for each of the cells you
built.
The packing fraction is the volume of space in the cell occupied by the atoms in
the cell, divided by the total volume of the unit cell.
Compare your answers to the values reported in your text.
4
number of atoms r 3
volume of atoms in a unit cell 3
pf = 3
volume of unit cell ao
Cell Type Packing Fraction
SCC
BCC
FCC
6. Derive an equation for the packing factor for each of the crystal structures, by
substituting in the appropriate relationship between lattice parameter, ao, and r
into the expression in problem 5.
Formula you derived for a SCC ______________________
Formula you derived for a FCC ______________________
Formula you derived for a BCC ______________________
7. How do the values of packing factor that you found using the measured r and
ao values compare to those you calculated?
Cell Type Packing factor based on your Text book packing factor
measurements
SCC
BCC
FCC
Experiments for L0046MAPR Materials and Processes,
Swinburne College Engineering Swinburne University of Technology
8. The density of a crystal is similar to the packing fraction. Its the mass of the
atoms in the cell, divided by the cell volume.
Derive the formula for the density of a crystal for each of the three crystal types,
as a function of radius, and compare this density from the text book or handout.
Youll need to use the relationship between r and ao for each cell type.
Remember, the atomic weight is the mass of a mole of atoms, but each cell only
contains only between 1 and 4 atoms.
That means you will have to take into account Avogadros number NA into
account to convert the atomic weight from grams per mole to grams per atom.
Cell Type Formula derived for Text Book Values of
density based on your density formulae
measurements
SCC
BCC
FCC
9. Calculate the density of an iron crystal, assuming it is in each of the three
cubic crystal structures. The radius of an iron atom at room temperature is
approximately 1.241 x 10-8cm
Crystal Structure Predicted density Calculated density
SCC
FCC
BCC
What is the density of iron reported in your text, or from the periodic
table? _______
Based on the density, what is the crystal structure of iron?
_____________________
What is the crystal structure of iron at room temperature reported on the front
page of the textbook?
_______________
Experiments for L0046MAPR Materials and Processes,
Swinburne College Engineering Swinburne University of Technology
10. Coordination number is the number of atoms with which a central atom is
in direct contact.
Use your models to figure out (don't just look it up)
the coordination number for each of the three crystal shapes.
(You may need to use some additional Polystyrene balls to help you
visualize an extended matrix.)
Crystal Shape Coordination
Number
SCC
FCC
BCC
Experiments for L0046MAPR Materials and Processes,