In the sodium chloride unit cell, the chloride ions form a cube in which each side is arranged like the following figure. The circles represent the positions of the chloride ions on one square face of the cube. All the other faces are the same. What is the name of this unit cell?

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

This unit cell is known as the face-centered cubic (FCC) because the chloride ions are located at the corners and in the center of each face of the cube. It is one of the three types of cubic unit cells, along with the primitive cubic and body-centered cubic. The chloride-centered cubic and x-face cubic are not commonly recognized unit cells.

In the Sodium Chloride Unit Cell, the Chloride Ions Form