Introduction to Materials Engineering (PE 24201)

B. Tech in Production & Industrial Engineering and Mechanical Engineering

Monsoon 2025 Semester

Tutorial 1 (Module 1)

1. Calculate the volume in terms of the atomic radius R and the atomic packing fraction of (a)
FCC, (b) BCC and (c) HCP unit cells.

2. If the atomic radius of aluminium is 0.143 nm, calculate the volume of its unit cell in cubic
meters.

3. For the HCP crystal structure, show that the ideal c/a ratio is 1.633.

4. Draw a schematic explaining the ionic bonding between magnesium and chlorine to form
MgCl2.

5. The accompanying figure shows a unit cell for a hypothetical metal.

a. To which crystal system does this unit cell belong?

b. What would this crystal structure be called?

6. List the equivalent point coordinates for all atoms that are associated with the FCC unit
cell.
7. List the point coordinates of the titanium, barium, and oxygen ions for a unit cell of the
perovskite crystal structure.

8. What type(s) of bonding would be expected for each of the following materials: brass (a
copper–zinc alloy), rubber, barium sulfide (BaS), bronze, nylon, and aluminum phosphide
(AlP)?

9. Sketch within a cubic unit cell the following planes: (a) (011 ����), (b) (102), (c) (1� 22),
(d) (110), (e) (013� ), (f) (122
����), (g) (13� 1), (h) (112� ), (i) (102� ), (j) (1� 23� )

10. Draw the following directions within a cubic unit cell (a) [110], (b) [1� 10], (c) [11����0], (d)
[1� 22], (e) [123
����], (f) [1� 03], (g) [133
����], (h) [01� 2], (i) [11
����1], (j) [11� 0]

11. Determine the indices for the directions shown in the following cubic unit cell:

(a) (b)

12. Draw the (a) [12� 1] direction and (b) (210) plane in a cubic unit cell.

13. Draw the (11� 1) plane and identify the six <110> directions that lie in that plane in a cubic
lattice.

14. Draw the plane in a cubic system that passes through the coordinates 1, 1, 0; 0, 0, 1; and 0,
1, 0. What are the Miller indices of this plane? State the index of a plane parallel to it.

15. Calculate the interplanar spacing between the following planes in gold (lattice parameter
of gold is 4.0786 Å).

(a) (124� ) (b) (201) (c) (11� 2) (d) (3� 21)

16. Show that the radius ratio for an atom or ion that just fits into a tetrahedral interstitial site
without disturbing the surrounding atoms or ions is 0.225.
 17. Show that the radius ratio for an atom or ion that just fits into a triangular interstitial site
without disturbing the surrounding atoms or ions is 0.155.

18. Calculate the equilibrium number of vacancies per cubic meter for copper at 1000 °C. The
energy for vacancy formation is 0.9 eV/atom; the atomic weight and density (at 1000 °C)
for copper are 63.5 g/mol and 8.4 g/cm3, respectively.

19. Calculate the fraction of atom sites that are vacant for lead at its melting temperature of
327 °C (600 K). Assume an energy for vacancy formation of 0.55 eV/atom.

20. Calculate the number of atoms present in 1 cm3 of pure copper

Questions from the Lecture Slides:

1. What is the definition and scope of engineering solids?

2. How do you define the physical states of solid, liquid, and vapour? What governs their
stability?

3. How can you uniquely classify engineering solids in pure form?

4. What comprises an atom? What differs from atom to atom?

5. Why do atoms not exist in isolation? Why does engineering concern only an aggregate of
atoms and not an isolated one?

6. Why do atoms of different elements vary in size? Why do atoms of the same element
measure the same diameter and mass?

7. Name a few common manufacturing processes and the engineering products manufactured
by them.

8. Why do pure solids rarely or not exist at all in nature?

9. Why are polymers mostly insulators, but metals are conductors?

10. Why are ceramics usually harder than polymers?

11. Why are metals conductors and opaque but glass is not?
Lecture 2:

1. Differentiate between amorphous and crystalline solids.

2. Draw a unit cell and show lattice parameters.

3. Determine the relationship between lattice parameters and atomic size for a given unit cell.

4. Determine the number of atoms per unit cell for various unit cells. Why can’t all of them
touch each other?

5. Why only 7 + 7 primitive and non-primitive cells?

6. Why can a unit cell not be 100% dense?

7. Calculate the atomic packing factor of unit cells.

8. Study atomic size and unit cell size for selected elements.

9. Calculate actual unit cell size using real atomic size data

10. Find out the reasons why certain metals exist only in a given Bravais lattice.

11. Can any crystal structure be totally isotropic?

12. What is the difference between a crystal lattice and structure

Lecture 3:

1. State the basic rules for indexing planes and directions.

2. Why do ionic sizes differ from neutral atoms? Why are anions bigger than cations? Why
are ionic bonds non-directional?

3. Why are the ionic solids usually lighter than metals?

4. Why is the coordination number concept evoked only for ionic and not metallic crystals?

5. What is symmetry? Name the types of macroscopic symmetry.

6. Why are unit cells classified based on minimum and not maximum symmetry elements?

7. Why are the indexing systems for hexagonal or rhombohedral crystals different from those
for orthogonal systems?
 8. How is atomic planar density related to interplanar spacing?

9. Why is taking reciprocals necessary for the indexing of planes?

10. Why do ionic crystals usually cleave along specific crystallographic planes or directions?

11. What is a zone axis? What is the corresponding relationship?

Lecture 4:

1. Why is a 100% perfect crystal unlikely and less stable?

2. How can vacancies enhance the stability of a crystal?

3. Which way and what defects could prove useful for some application of crystalline solids?
Give a few examples.

4. How are defects classified in crystalline solids?

5. Name an ionic crystal defect that cannot exist in a metal.

6. Why does a high defect density make a solid unstable?

7. Why is the Frenkel defect with anions unlikely?

8. How do dislocations affect mechanical properties?

9. Is precipitate a defect in a crystalline solid? An inclusion?

10. How does a precipitate differ from a dispersion?

11. How does a twin boundary differ from a grain boundary?

12. Why do inclusions arise? How can they be reduced?

13. Why is a solid more often a polycrystal, not a single crystal?

Lecture 5:

1. How does an engineering material distinguish itself from any other matter? What are
engineering solids made up of?

2. What are the usual routes of processing metals, ceramics, semiconductors, and polymers?
 3. Why can the same method be applied to all classes of engineering solids for synthesis or
fabrication?

4. How is plasma different from other states of matter?

5. What is the basic difference between equilibrium and non-equilibrium processing of

6. Why are the grains finest in size near the ingot surface?

7. Name a few net-shape or near-net-shape processing methods.

8. Why is e-beam processing always done in a vacuum?

9. Why are ceramic solids not amenable to rolling or forging?

10. What are the structural and functional properties of solids?

11. How do you differentiate between macro and microstructure?

Lecture 6:

1. Name the items that define the concept of ‘microstructure’.

2. What information can you get from an optical microstructure?

3. Why is it important to polish and then roughen the surface to reveal the optical
microstructure?

4. What are the main parts of an optical microscope?

5. Why can a dislocation not be seen under an optical microscope, but a grain boundary can
be?

6. What are abrasives? What are the essential properties of abrasives used for metallographic
practices?

7. How is etching different from chemical dissolution?

8. What are the advantages of colour metallography?

9. How does chromatic aberration differ from spherical aberration? What is astigmatism?
What is a coma?
 10. How can you distinguish between (a) a scratch from a twin? (b) blow/pinhole from a
precipitate? (c) twin from a grain boundary? (d) shear from a diffusive transformation
product? (e) a cast from the wrought microstructure or product?

Lecture 7:

1. Why do we need SEM, TEM, SPM, STM, AFM on top of OM?

2. What is the difference between images created by SE and BSE in SEM? What is the level
of precision in EDS in SEM?

3. Microstructure is a 2-D information. How to make it 3-D?

4. What are the relative merits and demerits of SEM and TEM?

5. What are the major steps of sample preparation for TEM?

6. Is etching needed for samples for examination by SEM/TEM?

7. What can XRD provide that OM or SEM, even TEM cannot?

8. Why is sample preparation very crucial for AFM or STM?

9. Is polishing needed for AFM? What is the main aim of AFM?

10. How can one distinguish between crystalline and non-crystalline solids using an XRD?

11. What are the main steps of phase identification by XRD?

12. What are the two main essential conditions for diffraction?

13. How can the crystal structure be determined using TEM?

14. What is orientation imaging? How can it be done by SEM?

15. What is the role of vacuum in SEM and TEM?

Lecture 8:

1. How can bulk composition vary from micro- or surface composition? What defines this
surface or micro-level?
2. Why is quantum mechanics essential for spectroscopy? How do characteristic and
continuous radiations differ?

3. How do the principles of elemental analysis and concerned detectors differ in EDS and
WDS? Which is WDS more applicable to low-Z elements, and why?

4. What are the main applications of EDS and WDS? Can they substitute for AAS or XRF?

5. What kind of exclusive information can one get from EBSD? How is EBSD different from
XRD or SAD(TEM)?

6. What are the techniques for determining surface chemistry? Why is surface composition
important?

7. How is a photoelectron different from an Auger electron?

8. How is spot, line or area mapping by EDS useful?

9. Briefly state the main objectives of TGA, DTA and DSC.

10. Why are differential values important for DTA and DSC?

11. How can Bragg’s law be used for spectroscopic analysis?