Crystal structure, definition

Chemicals exist as gases, liquids or solids. Solids have definite shapes and volume and are held together by strong intermolecular and interatomic forces. For many substances, these forces are strong enough to maintain the atoms in definite ordered arrays, called crystals. Solids with little or no crystal structure are termed amorphous. 

Crystals have definite geometric forms because the atoms or ions present are arranged in a definite, three-dimensional pattern. The nature of this pattern can be deduced by a technique known as x-ray diffraction. Ihe basic information that comes out of such studies has to do with the dimensions and geometric form of the unit cell, the smallest structural unit that, repeated over and over again in three dimensions, generates the crystal In all, there are 14 different kinds of unit cells. Our discussion will be limited to a few of the simpler unit cells found in metals and ionic solids. 

Thus, the formulated classification allows for the definition of the compound s crystal structure type based on its composition. In this process, the most important stage is the correct definition of the X Me ratio. 

Unfortunately, the experimental data do not provide a definite answer to the nature of HVaqj. The hydronium ion, shown in Figure 11-5, does exist in certain crystal structures. Spectroscopic studies indicate that several species are present in water. Thermal and electrical con-... 

A distinction between a solid and liquid is often made in terms of the presence of a crystalline or noncrystalline state. Crystals have definite lines of cleavage and an orderly geometric structure. Thus, diamond is crystalline and solid, while glass is not. The hardness of the substance does not determine the physical state. Soft crystals such as sodium metal, naphthalene, and ice are solid while supercooled glycerine or supercooled quartz are not crystalline and are better considered to be supercooled liquids. Intermediate between the solid and liquid are liquid crystals, which have orderly structures in one or two dimensions,4 but not all three. These demonstrate that science is never as simple as we try to make it through our classification schemes. We will see that thermodynamics handles such exceptions with ease. 

Although a number of solid compounds of plutonium were synthesized by ultramicrochemical techniques during our first year and a half at the Metallurgical Laboratory, it was not until November, 1943 that a positive identification of a crystal structure was made. W. H. Zachariasen joined the project in the fall of 1943 and very soon began to make definitive identifi-... 

The volume defect is somewhat more difficult to visualize in two dimensions. Let us suppose that a line defect has appeared while the crystal structure was forming. This would be a situation similar to that already shown in 3.1.3. where aline defect was shown. The compression-tension area of the defect has a definitive effect upon the growing crystal and causes it to deform around the line defect. This is shown in the following diagram ... 

Tsirelson, V.G., Zou, P.F. and Bader, R.F.W. (1995) Topological definition of crystal structure determination of the bonded interactions in solid molecular chlorine, Ada Cryst., A51, 143-153. 

Thiosemicarbazone (RNH-CS-NH-N=CR/R//, tsc) complexes of cobalt(III) have been extensively studied since the early 1980s and continue to attract attention, gaining particularly from an interest in their biological activity and potential cytotoxicity. A truly extensive range of tsc compounds has now been reported, although structural definition of their complexes widely relied on basic analytical and spectroscopic techniques up to the late 1980s, when X-ray crystal structural studies of tsc compounds became more common. A review of thiosemicarbazone and S-alkyldithiocarbazate complexes has appeared.1053... 

Homoleptic silver(I) thiolates AgSR have been known and used for a long time,957,958 but until recently with little definitive information about their structures. They are insoluble or slightly soluble, yielding unreliable high molecular weights in solution, indicative of nonmolecular crystal structures. These compounds dissolve due to the presence of thiolate ions. 

In addition to the minerals, there are also some rock-forming homogeneous materials that have neither the definite chemical composition nor the distinctive crystal structure characteristic of minerals. Such materials cannot, therefore, be considered as minerals and are known as mineraloids. Obsidian, for example, a natural material that has been widely used since prehistoric times for making lithic tools and decorative objects, is a mineraloid. Obsidian has neither a definite chemical composition nor a characteristic crystal structure and is not, therefore, a mineral. Copal and amber are other mineraloids that since antiquity have been treasured as semiprecious gemstones. 

The term monolayer (ML) must be defined clearly. In the work presented here, two definitions are used for surface studies, one ML indicates one adsorbate for each surface atom. For studies of compound formation, a monolayer is a slice of the compound s crystal structure, composed of one atomic layer of each of the constituent atoms. This does not necessarily mean a one unit-cell thick deposit is formed, as most compounds have larger unit cells from the point of view of crystallography, dependent on the orientation (Figure 8). 

If you stick to the definition of an allotrope being a modification of an element characterized by its x-ray crystal structure. Otherwise carbon may have more modifications, when counting all the different fullerenes and carbon nanotubes as allotropes. 

Investigations of the equilibria obtaining in solution have provided information concerning the stoichiometry and stability of the species formed when the beryllium ion is hydrolyzed. Although the identification of the minor species can never be regarded as definitive, there is little doubt that the principal species are Be2(OH)3+ and Be3(OH)3+ in acid solutions and Be(OH)3 and Be(OH)r in strongly basic solutions. Further support for these conclusions is provided by some crystal structures. The structure of [Be3(0H)3(H20)6]... 

A unit, or perfect, dislocation is defined by a Burgers vector which regenerates the structure perfectly after passage along the slip plane. The dislocations defined above with respect to a simple cubic structure are perfect dislocations. Clearly, then, a unit dislocation is defined in terms of the crystal structure of the host crystal. Thus, there is no definition of a unit dislocation that applies across all structures, unlike the definitions of point defects, which generally can be given in terms of any structure. 

A clear understanding of drug-binding sites and the mechanisms of transport/ inhibition as well as the resolution of P-gp crystal structures in complex with different substrates/inhibitors will definitively aid in the development of better models. However, considering the complexity underlying these antitargets, we strongly believe that this will not be reached in the near future. 

There are no known exceptions to rule 2, though many fewer data are available. The sensitivity parameter is by definition obtainable only where the linear bond length-reactivity relationship is observed, so exceptions are in any case less likely. It is not readily accessible — for accurate definition it requires good quality structures for a series of at least four to five derivatives — so any use outside the area of crystal-structure correlation is likely to be limited to situations where a particularly important question of mechanism or reactivity cannot be resolved by conventional approaches.21... 

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